Prospective dog owners should be aware that American pit bull terriers and American Staffordshire terriers can from March 1 no longer be owned without being registered, the Council of Agriculture (COA) has said.
The new regulations were introduced after a series of attacks by pit bull terriers, including one in which a three-year-old boy died after being attacked by a dog owned by his neighbors in Pingtung County in December last year.
The council categorizes six dog breeds as “aggressive”: pit bull terriers, Tosas, Neapolitan mastiffs, Brazilian mastiffs, Dogo Argentinos and other mastiffs.
Photo courtesy of the Kaohsiung City Animal Protection Office via CNA
Animal Husbandry Department Deputy Director Chiang Wen-chuan (江文全) asked owners of American pit bull terriers and American Staffordshire terriers to register their dogs before March 1, as the council listed those breeds in an amendment to the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法).
The amendment, which took effect on Oct. 26 last year, classifies the two kinds of terrier as “breed(s) of animals whose ownership, exportation and importation have been banned by the central competent authority,” he said.
Owners and importers of the two breeds who have acquired or are to acquire their dogs before March 1 must register them before Feb. 28 next year, he said.
The dogs must be registered in the city or county of residence of the owner, Chiang said, urging owners to inform the authorities of address changes.
The act also prohibits the breeding of American pit bull terriers and American Staffordshire terriers, he said.
Government-registered breeders would be allowed to continue to breed the dogs so long as they register all puppies after birth, Chiang said.
However, dogs born after the registration requirement comes into effect cannot be used for further breeding, he said.
Starting from March 1, owners of the two breeds may only sell their dogs to people with experience owning dogs of the respective breed, Chiang said.
Those who breach the new rules would face fines of NT$50,000 to NT$250,000, he said.
However, as the amendment closely defines the breeds affected, owners of other kinds of pit bulls would not face any additional curbs, Chiang said.
As pit bulls are generally classified as “aggressive,” they can only be walked in public by an adult, and must be leashed and muzzled at all times.
Department of Animal Industry data show that as of Dec. 15 last year, 199 American pit bull terriers and 31 American Staffordshire terriers had been registered, while registrations for 2,407 pit bulls of other breeds had been filed.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book