There were an estimated 1.48 million pet dogs and 1.31 million pet cats in Taiwan last year, an increase of 19 percent and 50 percent respectively compared with 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture’s latest survey showed.
As raising children is challenging, many people have turned to raising pets, which is why the ministry data released on Friday show an increase of pet dogs and cats in the nation.
The ministry’s data, based on a telephone survey last year, show that 28.3 percent of households in Taiwan have pets, which is a 6.7 percent increase from 2021.
Photo: Tainan City Animal Health Inspection and Protection Office
The survey estimated that there were 1,480,637 pet dogs last year, an increase of 19 percent from 1,235,218 dogs in 2021.
There were an estimated 1,311,449 pet cats last year, an increase of 50 percent from 870,801 in 2021, the data showed.
The survey result matches the global trend of the number of households with pet cats increasing, as urbanization intensifies, the ministry said.
About 10.4 percent of households had cats last year, an increase of 3.8 percent compared with 2021, while 13.8 percent had dogs last year, an increase of 1.3 percent, it said.
Moreover, the ministry found that 9.3 percent of households have other pets, which is a 3.3 percent increase from two years ago.
Pets in Taiwan are becoming more diversified, so the ministry’s administration of pets needs adjustments, it said.
The survey also showed that the sterilization rate of pet dogs was 68.9 percent, an increase from 66.4 percent in 2021, and the rate among pet cats was 82.8 percent, increasing from 84.6 percent, suggesting that cat owners are relatively willing to have their pet neutered.
The pet dog registration rate was 70.6 percent last year, an increase from 69.5 percent in 2021, and 58.4 percent of cats were registered, up from 50.7 percent in 2021, the survey showed.
National regulations require pet dogs to be microchipped and registered, while only Taipei requires pet cats to be registered.
The ministry said it is mulling different levels of animal welfare management for different types of pets.
As the number of cat owners has significantly increased, it is also assessing the feasibility of a mandatory pet cat registration mechanism, it added.
Letting unsterilized pet dogs run outdoors freely is the main source of the stray dog problem, the ministry said, and urged dog owners not to let their dogs wander around and reproduce freely.
Aside from landline phone calls, the survey’s sampling population included randomly selected cellphone numbers, and 10,348 valid samples were collected, with a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points, the ministry said.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)