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.
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