The Ministry of Agriculture on Tuesday said that broader public support is needed to implement humane euthanasia in animal shelters, after a citizen-led petition called for it.
The public proposal was submitted in early July via the National Development Council’s public policy participation Web site.
It urged the government to “implement humane euthanasia in animal shelters, strengthen management of owner responsibility, and require any animal feeder or animal caretaker to bear legal responsibility under the Animal Protection Act [動物保護法].”
Photo: Liu Yu-ching, Taipei Times
The ministry said it held a meeting on Tuesday with animal protection agencies and groups from across Taiwan.
Animal shelters have not carried out culling since June 2017 and there has been overcrowding in animal shelters.
Some animal protection groups said that animals dying of old age or illness in cramped spaces was a greater neglect of animal welfare than humane euthanasia.
The act allows for the euthanasia of animals with notifiable infectious diseases, incurable serious illnesses or conditions that seriously affect public sanitation, but in practice, this has not been implemented.
“Zero culling is not zero euthanasia,” Department of Animal Welfare Director Chiang Wen-chuan (江文全) said, adding that “the rate of humane euthanasia in public shelters is below 1 percent.”
“Many people have doubts about humane euthanasia, and many veterinarians are unwilling to perform it,” Chiang said, adding that “most shelters still adopt a strategy of treating and saving animals as much as possible.”
The ministry would compile all views and issue a response to the petition on the public policy participation Web site by the end of this month, Chiang added.
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