New Taipei City officials on Saturday warned people to do their research before buying pet pigs, saying that last year, they dealt with 14 cases involving abandoned or escaped pigs and improper disposal of pig carcasses.
Eleven of the cases involved musk pigs, indicating that the owners might have confused them with miniature pigs, New Taipei City Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office Director Yang Shu-fang (楊淑方) said in a news release.
Although the piglets of the two species look similar, an adult musk pig weighs 120kg on average, she said.
Photo courtesy of the New Taipei City Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office
Musk pigs are bred for their adorable appearance and gentle temperament, but have special dietary and health needs, and require a lot of space, the department said.
They live up to 10 years on average, it said.
A musk pig is a significant commitment for unprepared pet owners, it said, adding that people interested in adopting musk pigs must be certain that they could properly care for the animals.
Taiwan is close to eliminating common swine fever while carrying out the crucial task of preventing the African variant of the disease from its borders, veterinarian Lee Yu-yeh (黎玉葉) said.
An owner’s failure to secure their pig is punishable by a NT$3,000 to NT$15,000 (US$92 to US$458) fine under the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法), and the penalty could be increased up to 10 times for deliberate abandonment, Lee said.
The abandonment of a pig or failure to secure it that leads to the spread of a communicable animal disease, or the improper disposal of a pig carcass, is punishable by a maximum fine of NT$1 million, she said.
Last year’s animal welfare cases involving pigs were reported in Sanchong (三重), Sinjhuang (新莊), Wugu (五股), Sijhih (汐止), Bali (八里), Tamsui (淡水) and Shuangsi (雙溪) districts, the department said.
A three-month-old musk pig weighing 36kg escaped from its home before animal welfare officers captured and returned it to its owner, who was fined NT$3,000 for negligence, it said.
The department said that it put up a rescued juvenile musk pig for adoption after no one came forward to claim responsibility for the animal, it said.
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