A collaboration between the Taiwan Veterinary Medical Association and 18 veterinary clinics across the nation would ensure that dogs bitten by snakes have access to antivenom at all hours, the association said on Saturday.
Antivenoms were considered human-only medication until an amendment to the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法) was passed in 2015, association president Chen Pei-chung (陳培中) said.
Since then, veterinarians have been qualified to obtain antivenom, but veterinary clinics are often short on antivenom or there are not enough clinics to help dogs that have been bitten by snakes, Chen said.
There are about 50 to 60 reported incidents every year of dogs having been bitten by snakes, he said.
Most snakebites occur late at night or during weekends or holidays, Chen said, adding that most of the incidents happen in mountainous areas far away from veterinary clinics.
Dogs are known to aggravate snakes once they find them, which usually results in the dog getting bitten in the head, expediting the spread of the venom to the central nervous system, Chen said, adding that such incidents are time-sensitive and some dogs would not survive the trip to a clinic that has antivenom.
The association has been in close contact with veterinarians across the nation who are willing to work with the association’s local branches, he said.
The association has delivered 24 shots of lyophilized antivenom for Taiwanese krait and cobra bites, and 17 shots of lyophilized antivenom for spotted pit viper and Taiwanese bamboo viper bites, Chen said.
Veterinary clinics in Miaoli, Changhua and Chiayi counties collaborating with the association have yet to receive their antivenom, and the association would seek to ameliorate transport procedures and increase the amount of antivenom at the veterinary clinics, he added.
After a bite occurs, dog owners should identify the type of snake that has bitten their dog, or they would have to wait until the veterinarian identifies whether the venom is a neurotoxin or consists of hemotoxins, Chen said.
Antivenom costs NT$17,500 per shot, as they are primarily for human use and need to undergo Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme certification, he said.
The Centers for Disease Control has facilitated the collaboration between the association and veterinary clinics, Chen said.
The association considers the cooperation a trial effort that might lead to larger collaboration, he added.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at