The Taipei Animal Protection Office on Tuesday launched a pet insurance program in a bid to encourage pet owners to better safeguard their four-legged friends’ health and wellbeing.
The program, called “Give Stray Animals a Home; They Are Lucky to Have You,” allows owners who adopt dogs or cats at the Taipei Animal Shelter between July 1 and Dec. 31 this year to enjoy free insurance coverage.
Pet costs covered would include visits to the veterinarian, surgery and hospitalization, the office said, estimating that 1,500 dogs and cats would be insured under this program, with the highest payout amount being NT$210,350.
Photo: Yang Hsin-hui, Taipei Times
The office said the insurance coverage gives pet owners a maximum of NT$1,000 per vet visit, with at most three payouts; a maximum of NT$5,000 for hospitalization, with at most two payouts; and a maximum of NT$10,000 for surgery, with at most one payout.
Animal Management Division coordinator Chang Mao-hsuan (張茂萱) explained that the maximum payout for veterinarian visits, hospitalization and surgery combined is NT$10,000 per year, which limit is not applied to special cases like pets biting and hurting others.
For such cases, in which another individual’s rights are infringed upon, the maximum payout is NT$100,000 per case, with two cases paid for at most.
As long as owners go to any of the 250 animal hospitals in Taipei certified by the Pet Commercial Trade Council, they are entitled to file insurance claims for related costs, he added.
Pet Commercial Trade Council chairman Chang Ching-lin (張靖霖) said that pet insurance has been available for a while now, but has been hard to implement because pet microchips and pet registration were not common, and both are necessary for animal identification. Another obstacle was that insurance claims were accepted by just a few animal hospitals.
Now, with more pets officially registered and implanted with a microchip, the insurance industry is willing to devise new policies that not only ensure animal rights, but also reduce the risk of animal abandonment due to the owner’s inability to pay for their pet’s medical costs, he said.
The office added that it is offering a discounted price of NT$650 for the policy to owners who have adopted dogs or cats at the shelter from Jan. 1, 2017 to June 30.
Taiwan yesterday expelled four China Coast Guard vessels that entered Taiwan-controlled restricted waters off Lienchiang County (Matsu) shortly after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army announced the start of its “Joint Sword-2024B” drills around Taiwan. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a statement that it had detected two China Coast Guard ships west of Nangan Island (南竿) and another two north of Dongyin Island (東引) at 8am yesterday. After Chinese ships sailed into restricted waters off Matsu shortly afterward, the CGA’s Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu Branch deployed four patrol vessels to shadow and approach the vessels, it said. The incidents pushed up to 44 the number
Renovations on the B3 concourse of Taipei Main Station are to begin on Nov. 1, with travelers advised to use entrances near the Taiwan Railway or high-speed rail platforms or information counter to access the MRT’s Red Line. Construction is to be completed before the end of next year, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said last week. To reduce the impact on travelers, the NT$95 million (US$2.95 million) project is to be completed in four stages, it said. In the first stage, the hall leading to the Blue Line near the art exhibition area is to be closed from Nov. 1 to the end
Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) shopping area welcomed the most international visitors, followed by Taipei 101, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園), a list of the city’s most popular tourist attractions published by the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism showed. As of August, 69.22 million people had visited Taipei’s main tourism spots, a 76 percent increase from 39.33 million in the same period last year, department data showed. Ximending had 20.21 million visitors, followed by Taipei 101 at 8.09 million, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park at 6.28 million, Yangmingshan at 4.51 million and the Red House Theater (西門紅樓) in
The government has issued a deportation order for a Spanish fugitive, ordering him to leave the country within 10 days, as he is wanted by European authorities for allegedly operating a car rental scam. National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials yesterday said Salvador Alejandro Llinas Onate, 48, had been notified that he must leave Taiwan, as he was wanted for committing serious crimes. The Spaniard has been indicted by Italian prosecutors for allegedly leading a 30 million euros (US$32.74 million) car rental scam and setting up a fraudulent company in Trento, Italy. The deportation order is based on Article 18 of
RSS