The Taoyuan City Government yesterday said it plans to send animal welfare officials to a junior college after a video on social media appeared to show one of its teachers using a live ferret to clean a chalkboard.
In an Instagram Reel posted on Friday, a student at Taoyuan’s Hsin Sheng Junior College of Medical Care and Management, posted a one-second video clip of what appeared to be a teacher using a squirming white ferret to wipe chalk off a chalkboard.
The clip, captioned “freshman life on campus,” was posted to a public Instagram account operated by the school, but later deleted following allegations of animal abuse.
Photo courtesy of a reader
In a statement, the school said that while it has yet to speak with the part-time teacher seen in the video, it was “unlikely” the ferret was being mistreated, since its owner and many other students were in the room.
School administrators would nevertheless look into the issue, and also remind students and teachers that pets cannot be brought to class and should be treated with care, the school said.
Meanwhile, Taoyuan Animal Welfare Office Commissioner Wang Te-chi (王得吉) said the office plans to send officials to the school to speak with the teacher and inquire about the ferret’s well-being today.
Under Taiwan’s Animal Protection Act (動物保護法), a pet owner has a legal responsibility to protect their pet from harassment, abuse and injury, Wang added.
If an animal is illegally harmed resulting in its death, the person responsible can face up to two years in prison and a fine ranging from NT$200,000 to NT$2 million (US$6,044 to US$60,444), he said.
Asked to confirm details about the video, Wang said that according to the school, the ferret’s owner brought the animal to class and had let the teacher, a part- time math instructor, hold it.
The video was posted to the Instagram account for the school’s nursing program, he said.
According to the school, the ferret’s owner recorded the video, and although the teacher appears to have acted improperly, it could just be an issue of the angle at which the recording was taken, Wang said.
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