Animal rights advocates yesterday staged a rally outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, while lawmakers convened a second round of public hearings inside for the Constitutional Amendment Committee, where participants voiced their support for improving animal protection and lowering the legal voting age to 18.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators continued to boycott the hearings, accusing the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of contravening legislative procedure earlier this month by choosing DPP Legislator Chou Chun-mi (周春米) as convener of the opening session before KMT legislators had arrived.
Representatives from the Taiwan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Taiwan Animal Equality Association led the rally outside, with several protesters dressed as roosters, pigs, tigers, monkeys, dogs, horses, pandas or other animals, while supporters held up banners that read “Incorporate animal rights into the Constitution,” among other slogans.
Photo: CNA
It is time for Taiwan to respect the life and dignity of these sentient life forms, and to protect the welfare of animals, animal rights advocate Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳) said.
“When people make use of animals, we must do everything to avoid causing them pain and unnecessary suffering,” Ho said.
Under the Civil Code, animals are considered items or property belonging to the human owner, and not defined as “life forms,” he said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
“We need to have the basis for the protection of animals and put that in the Constitution,” he said.
Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan director Chu Tseng-hung (朱增宏) called on the government to initiate more reforms, otherwise efforts to ban the use of live animals in lab tests, stop cruel treatment of animals and promote more animal-friendly livestock farming in Taiwan would be impeded.
Representatives from the Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy and other student groups said they are concerned about KMT lawmakers boycotting the amendment process.
DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said that the party, along with the New Power Party and the Taiwan People’s Party, are participating in the legislative process, but with the noticeable absence of one party.
“KMT lawmakers have also introduced and supported lowering the voting age to 18, but now they do not want to touch it, and are using procedural moves to derail the process," she said. "It is very frustrating for us, as society wants to see the changes, but the KMT is working to ensure that nothing can be achieved."
‘FRIENDSHIP FLEET’: A CGA official is scheduled to meet with the president of the Pacific nation, while one of the ships is to host a banquet and National Day event Two Coast Guard Administration (CGA) patrol vessels have docked at Malakal Harbor in Palau as part of an expedition exercise and diplomatic visit, during which a senior official is expected to meet with Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr, the agency said yesterday. The two vessels, the 4,000-tonne-class Chiayi and the 1,000-tonne-class Penghu, set sail for Palau from Taiwan last week and arrived on Tuesday at Malakal Harbor, the CGA’s Fleet Branch said in a statement. The journey marks the second time the CGA has dispatched a “friendship fleet” to another country, after it sent its first-ever goodwill fleet, comprising the Hualien and
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) today said that two of its patrol vessels have docked at Palau's Malakal Harbor as part of an expedition exercise and diplomatic visit, during which a senior official is expected to meet with the Palauan president. The two vessels, the 4,000-tonne-class Chiayi (嘉義) and the 1,000-tonne-class Penghu (澎湖), set sail for Palau from Taiwan last week and arrived at Malakal Harbor yesterday, the CGA's Fleet Branch said in a statement. The journey marked the second time the CGA has dispatched a "Friendship Fleet" to another country, after it sent its first-ever goodwill fleet, comprising the Hualien (花蓮)
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Had I Not Seen the Sun (如果我不曾見過太陽), a coming-of-age mystery romance, yesterday won best series at the Seoul International Drama Awards in South Korea. The show's producer, Phoebe Ma (麻怡婷), accepted the award on behalf of the production team. "Telling this story was difficult," Ma said. "There were moments when I doubted my strength to keep going, but I never doubted the story itself." Ma went on to thank the cast and crew of the show for making the win possible. Released in two parts on Netflix at the end of last year, the 20-episode drama starred Tseng Jing-hua (曾敬驊) and Alice Ko (柯佳嬿). The
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