The manufacture and use of animal traps that mutilate their catch should be banned via legal amendments, animal protection groups said yesterday.
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如) also urged the government to make efforts to prevent further mutilation of animals that occurs every day.
Animal Care Trust (ACT) secretary-general Hsu Juo-ching (徐若菁) said the group often found animals bloodied by traps during investigative missions, adding that the number of stray dogs on Yangmingshan (陽明山) with fewer than four functioning legs is proof of the dangers of such traps.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
These traps are used to keep animals away from farms, but are ineffective, Hsu said, adding that farmers should adopt more humane methods of protecting their land.
A child could step into a boar trap and be hung from a tree, which would make Taiwanese think twice about such traps, ACT founder Sean McCormack said.
Government measures to modify trap designs to reduce their harm cannot be enforced due to legal loopholes, Taiwan Animal Protection Monitor Network secretary-general Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳) said.
Ho also urged the Executive Yuan to review the Forestry Bureau’s proposed amendments to Article 21 of the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保護法), which were submitted a year ago and would ban the use of all traps.
New Power Party (NPP) Chairwoman Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said that traps permanently maim animals, and the government should either limit the legal uses of such devices or ban them completely.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said that if people would not tolerate humans being caught in these types of traps, they have no right to use them on animals.
Either people should be licensed to use these traps, or their use should be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, he said.
Separately, Forestry Bureau staff demonstrated redesigned animal traps, which allow for adjustable diameters and pressure plates, preventing bears and leopard cats from activating the traps.
The new traps are designed to meet farmers’ needs to deter animals, and old traps should be traded in for the new model, bureau staff said.
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau audited six hotels in an effort to prevent price gouging ahead of Korean band BTS’ concert tour in the city scheduled for Nov. 19, 21 and 22 this year. The bureau on Friday said that the audits — conducted in response to allegations of unfair pricing posted on social media — found no wrongdoing. These establishments included the local branches of Chateau de Chine, Hotel Nikko, My Humble House, and Grand Hai Lai, it said, adding that the Consumer Protection Commission would have penalized price gougers had the accusations been substantiated. The bureau said the Tourism Development Act
The military yesterday said it has located the flight data recorder, or black box, of an F-16V jet that disappeared off eastern Taiwan earlier this month, and it would soon deploy a salvage team to try to retrieve it. Air Force Command Headquarters said that while it had pinned down the location of the black box, it was still searching for the aircraft’s sole pilot, air force Captain Hsin Po-yi (辛柏毅). Without providing details, the air force said it had located the black box days after detecting some intermittent signals and would now engage a team of professionals to retrieve it. The air
RSS