A pit bull terrier has been confiscated and its owner fined NT$200,000 after it jumped out a car window and bit nearby motorcyclists twice this month, the Taipei City Government said today.
The Taipei Animal Protection Office confiscated the dog this afternoon, transporting it muzzled and caged to an animal shelter for temporary housing.
The office would assess whether eligible anyone could adopt the dog at a later date, but would not rule out euthanizing the dog if its aggression cannot be controlled, the office said today.
Photo: Liu Yung-yun, Taipei Times
The dog jumped out a car window and bit a nearby motorcyclist once on March 6 and again yesterday.
The owner, surnamed Hsu (徐), was unable to properly manage the dog, the office said, deciding to confiscate the dog.
The Taipei Department of Economic Development today imposed fines of NT$50,000 and NT$150,000 for the first and second attack respectively.
Neither injured motorcyclist has filed a lawsuit against the owner, and they would discuss how to handle the situation with the dog’s owner, reports said.
The owner is negotiating compensation with the injured parties and would calmly accept the fines and confiscation of the dog, the owner’s son and Plain Law Movement chief operating officer Hsu Shu-lei (徐書磊) said yesterday.
This is Taipei’s first case of a pit bull attacking people and needing to be confiscated, office specialist Hua Hsin-hui (華心惠) said today.
Hsu has owned the dog, named Lucky, for 10 years and registered it in accordance with legal requirements, Hua said.
Lucky is easily agitated when seeing unfamiliar people or dogs, and was extremely anxious and scared after being transferred to an unfamiliar environment this afternoon, Hua added.
The office would perform routine check-ups and request a dog trainer to assess whether it is safe for Lucky to be adopted out to another owner at a later date, she said.
Depending on the assessment results, people with experience raising pit bulls may be permitted to adopt the dog, she added.
According to Article 32 of the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法), authorities can confiscate an owner’s animal if it injures another person without cause.
There are specific legal regulations for confiscation and subsequent adoption of pit bulls.
In general, if a dog is confiscated and no one comes forward to adopt it, it is housed by the authorities until it dies of old age.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
The New Taipei City Government would assist relatives of those killed or injured in last month’s car-ramming incident in Sansia District (三峽) to secure compensation, Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday, two days after the driver died in a hospital. “The city government will do its best to help the relatives of the car crash incident seek compensation,” Hou said. The mayor also said that the city’s Legal Affairs, Education and Social Welfare departments have established a joint mechanism to “provide coordinated assistance” to victims and their families. Three people were killed and 12 injured when a car plowed into schoolchildren and their
RSS