A medical team from National Chung Hsing University’s Department of Veterinary Medicine is to visit Guam on Tuesday to promote spaying and neutering stray animals.
At the invitation of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Guam and the University of Guam, the department put together a 10-person team to address problems with stray animals in the US territory.
It is the first cooperation between Taiwan and the US on a trap, neuter, vaccinate, release program, which is considered a humane method to control stray animal populations.
Photo: CNA
The Taiwanese team already works on a project led by Lin Hsun-lung (林荀龍), an associate professor at the department, promoting spaying and neutering stray animals under a university social responsibility program launched by the Ministry of Education in 2017.
More than 300 students and department staff have participated in the project, sterilizing stray animals in rural areas in central and southern Taiwan.
The team committed to spay or neuter 400 animals during their visit, after determining how many operations they could complete, as the procedure requires anesthesia, and the amount of time needed varies from animal to animal, Lin said.
They are also to hold workshops and lectures at the University of Guam to teach about caring for pets, including topics such as implanting microchips, vaccinating animals, changing their drinking water regularly and preventing heat stroke.
The team is also to provide the university with teaching materials and translated lesson plans, hoping to enhance exchanges on the issue between the two institutions.
National Chung Hsing University vice president Huang Jenn-wen on Friday held a pre-departure news conference, which was attended by Taichung Deputy Mayor Bruce Linghu (令狐榮達), Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Guam Director-General Paul Chen (陳盈連) and Taichung Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office head Lin Ju-liang (林儒良).
Chen said that Guam has a population of 170,000 people and nearly 60,000 stray animals, but only three veterinarians, who are overwhelmed by the problem, forcing them to euthanize strays.
The office has been communicating with various agencies in Guam for the past two years before finalizing the collaboration with the University of Guam.
Liu Jeng-hung (劉正宏), associate liaison of the University of Guam’s Asia Universities Consortium, said that in addition to controlling the number of stray animals, local pet owners should also learn to take responsibility for their animals.
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