President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday lauded Taiwan’s progress in animal protection, including the landmark end to the euthanasia of stray animals, at an international animal welfare conference in Taipei.
“Our central and local governments have continued to work with animal protection groups to promote a humane capture-neuter policy to reduce the stray animal population,” Lai said at the opening of the Asia for Animals Coalition (AfA) Conference.
Lai recalled that before his tenure as mayor of Tainan from 2010 to 2017, more than 12,000 stray animals were euthanized each year in the southern city.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
“But we achieved zero euthanasia, out of respect for life,” Lai told more than 600 animal welfare advocates from more than 30 countries at the conference, adding that every animal in Taiwan is now “fully protected” by law.
Taiwan formally banned the euthanasia of strays in 2017, after an amendment to the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法) required all public shelters to cease the practice.
Lai also pointed to more recent milestones, including the establishment of the Department of Animal Welfare under the Ministry of Agriculture in 2023 and last year’s amendments to regulations on animal exhibitions to “strengthen welfare standards and inspection mechanisms.”
AfA cochief executive officer Sirjana Nijjar expressed her “heartfelt gratitude” to Lai, saying that it was the first time in her career she had seen a president attend an animal protection conference, “truly showcasing your commitment to the cause of animals.”
Responding to Lai’s remarks, Chu Tseng-hung (朱增宏), executive director of Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan, said in his keynote speech that Taiwan’s stray dog problem remains unresolved, describing progress as “one step forward, one step back.”
The estimated number of stray dogs has fluctuated over the past seven years: 146,773 in 2018, 155,869 in 2020, 159,697 in 2022 and 141,584 in 2024, ministry data showed.
Chu said that the stray dog situation has also created conflicts with wildlife conservation, urging advocates for companion animals and those focused on wild species to “consider the animals that others care about.”
He described the ministry’s approach as “tokenism,” saying that although the Food and Agricultural Education Act (食農教育法) has included animal welfare provisions since 2022, its implementation has so far been largely superficial.
“Every day, more than 10,000 pigs are sent to live auction markets, which is extremely cruel,” he said.
He showed a video from the markets depicting practices such as electric prodding, and pigs being piled and rammed against one another.
On poultry farming, Chu said that more than 70 percent of Taiwan’s egg-laying hens are still confined to cages with limited space rather than being raised in cage-free systems.
First held in 2001, the AfA Conference has been convened biennially in different cities across Asia, with Taiwan hosting for the first time this year.
Under the theme “Reflection and Breaking Boundaries,” the three-day event — running from yesterday through tomorrow — features keynote speeches, plenary sessions and workshops on a wide range of animal welfare issues.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
RSS