Free-roaming cats and dogs are threatening the lives of wild animals, wild animal conservation groups said yesterday as they called on the government to strengthen stray animal management.
The march in Taipei called for the government to pay more attention to the conflict between stray animals and wild or companion animals.
“The goal of the march is not to polarize wild animal conservationists and animal rights activists, but to improve the situation where stray animals are threatening wild animals’ lives,” march coordinator Wu Yi-ta (吳奕達) said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The main message of the march is to call for effective governmental measures to manage and reduce free-roaming cats and dogs, he said.
The program for stray dog management in biodiverse hotspots should be bolstered and expanded, such as by implementing a feeding ban in these areas, Wu said.
Protestors want bring attention to the issue because many people are not aware of the life-threatening risks that free-roaming cats and dogs pose to wild animals, he said.
Case studies should be incorporated into the Ministry of Education’s curriculum guidelines to increase the public’s understanding of wild animal conservation and companion animals’ welfare, Wu said.
Supporting Team Social Enterprise chief executive Georny Liu (劉偉蘋) said feeding stray animals could attract more to come to area, increasing the risk of infectious diseases from cats and dogs.
Although feeding stray animals would prolong their lives, they would still lead a wretched and unhealthy life, she said.
Feeding stray animals would also cancel out the efforts made by the authorities to reduce street cats and dogs, such as trapping and neutering, Liu said.
If people continue to feed stray animals, stray cats and dogs, and wild animals would not live in harmony and well-being, she said, calling on the public not to feed stray animals.
National Taiwan Normal University Department of Life Science professor Lin Si-min (林思民) said biodiversity has been brought to attention globally in recent years.
In Taiwan, developing wild animal conservation thinking among different ministries and departments is needed to enhance the effectiveness of their biodiversity policies and measures, he said.
Many cats and dogs are invasive species to Taiwan, but most school teachers and government officials are not aware of this, which should be included in curricular guidelines, Lin added.
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