Taipei is to offer pet insurance subsidies of up to NT$3,000 (US$93.86) each for at least 200 cats and dogs adopted from the city’s animal shelter this year, the Animal Protection Office said.
Applications would be accepted until Dec. 20 or until the budget is exhausted, with the subsidy limited to one payment per pet, the office said in a statement on Thursday.
To be eligible for the subsidy, the pets need to be neutered, and have rabies vaccinations and valid pet insurance, it added.
Photo courtesy of the New Taipei City Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office
There have been 30 applications so far this year since it sent out text messages notifying eligible owners on Aug. 20, it said, adding that the pets were mainly 4 to 5 years old and their owners were paying an annual insurance premium of between NT$4,000 and NT$5,000.
Pet insurance is important, as they are not covered by regular health insurance and owners face significant medical expenses if their pets fall ill or are injured, the office said.
The insurance covers part of outpatient, hospitalization and surgery costs, as well as expenses for locating lost pets and funeral costs, the office said, adding that owners are encouraged to insure their pets while they are still puppies or kittens.
In addition, pet insurance also covers the cost of pet hotel stays if the owner is hospitalized and compensation if the pet causes injury, death or property damage to a third party, the office said.
Four insurance companies in Taiwan offer pet insurance with varying coverage, it said.
Owners can apply for the subsidy by filling out an online application, mailing the application to the office, or visiting the animal shelter in Neihu District (內湖) and filling out the application there, the office added.
Taipei’s Animal Protection Office used vouchers to encourage the purchase of pet insurance in 2011 and expanded them to include adopted pets in 2019.
It started using cash subsidies this year, as feedback suggested cash rewards to subsidize insurance premiums would be more popular.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
China is attempting to subsume Taiwanese culture under Chinese culture by promulgating legislation on preserving documents on ties between the Minnan region and Taiwan, a Taiwanese academic said yesterday. China on Tuesday enforced the Fujian Province Minnan and Taiwan Document Protection Act to counter Taiwanese cultural independence with historical evidence that would root out misleading claims, Chinese-language media outlet Straits Today reported yesterday. The act is “China’s first ad hoc local regulations in the cultural field that involve Taiwan and is a concrete step toward implementing the integrated development demonstration zone,” Fujian Provincial Archives deputy director Ma Jun-fan (馬俊凡) said. The documents
RSS