From October, pet owners in Taipei could face a fine of up to NT$250,000 if their pets are not neutered, but many people have said that the city government’s efforts to inform owners of the regulation have been inadequate.
In 2015, several amendments to the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法) were passed, including a regulation that requires pet owners to neuter their pets, unless they have breeding management plans and obtain a neutering waiver from local authorities.
Under the act, owners who do not neuter their pets could face a fine of NT$50,000 to NT$250,000.
As of last month, there were 203,398 registered dogs and cats in Taipei, 42 percent of which were not yet neutered, Taipei Animal Protection Office data showed.
While the city government could begin handing out fines from October, many pet owners said that they were not even aware of the regulation.
A pet owner surnamed Chien (簡) said that it was not until last month that he received his first notice about the regulation’s implementation, adding the penalty is unreasonable when the office did not share the information widely.
The office said that it only started issuing notifications to the city’s pet owners last month, but added that it would send out second notifications next month, and would not hand out fines until October.
Meanwhile, some veterinarians said that mandatory neutering is not the best way to reduce the number of stray animals.
To gain a better grasp of the number of pets, the government should work harder to promote registration by requiring owners to implant chips in their pets, so that it is able to distinguish between abandoned pets and strays, a veterinarian said on condition of anonymity.
Instead of imposing fines, the government should promote the benefits of neutering, such as that neutering could reduce the chance of a pet developing tumors or diseases related to their sexual organs, Help Save a Pet Fund Taiwan member Kao Chen-chun (高晨均) said.
While the regulation was established three years ago, many people do not know about it and therefore might think that the government cannot intervene in their right to let their pets breed, Taiwan Veterinary Medical Association chairman Chen Pei-chung (陳培中) said.
The government should be more proactive when dealing with the increasing number of strays, especially when some pet owners in the countryside do not keep their dogs at home and let them arbitrarily mate with other dogs, Chen added.
Animal Industry director Hsieh Yao-ching (謝耀清) yesterday said that, as the mating season for dogs is beginning, the Council of Agriculture has designated next month to promote pet neutering and plans to work with local governments, veterinarian associations, animal protection groups and colleges to host 180 neutering and 900 promotion events.
The information of the nation’s 1.53 million registered dogs and cats has been incorporated into the Ministry of the Interior’s household registration system, and the council would ask local authorities to notify pet owners in their municipalities about pet neutering or applying for a neutering waiver, Hsieh added.
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