Pet owners should train their animals to use a litter box indoors during the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for their care in the event that their owners must be quarantined, an animal trainer said.
The Taipei City Animal Protection Office shared tips for training pets after 14 pet owners in the city contracted COVID-19 and had to place their animals with a city shelter.
Owners should prepare a month’s worth of food — which can be purchased online — for their pets in case such incidents occur, the office said.
Owners should also book vet appointments in advance to avoid crowds, and ask vets to prescribe larger quantities of medication for chronic diseases to stockpile in case they are unable to refill prescriptions, it said.
“Training dogs to defecate and urinate at home is not hard. You just need to train more with your dog to build up a rapport,” animal trainer Lee Wei (李薇) said.
Owners should first keep track of when their pets usually urinate or defecate, she said, adding that for most dogs it is in the morning, after they have eaten, late at night after they have been active and just before they sleep.
“Owners can make that time more regular by rewarding their dog verbally or with a treat after it relieves itself on schedule,” she said.
Owners can use diaper pads to help dogs remember where they can relieve themselves, she said, adding that owners should place pads as far away from their pet’s play area or sleeping area as possible, and encircle the pads with a fence.
“If owners need to take their dogs outside, they should wear masks, and sanitize themselves and their pets when they return indoors,” she said.
Owners could use alcohol wipes to clean around their dog’s mouth, feet and anus when they come back inside to reduce the chances of them bringing in viruses and bacteria from outside, she said.
Owners should also consider bathing their pets every one or two weeks, and should arrange to have someone familiar with their pet handle its care in the event that the owner is hospitalized and unable to handle such responsibilities, she added.
In the event that pets are left alone when an owner is hospitalized, the owner can contact the Taipei City Animal Protection Office at (02) 8791-3064 or (02) 8791-3065, to arrange for someone to retrieve and care for their pets.
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
RSS