Sun, Sep 28, 2025 page3

• FEATURE: Experts rethink how to manage stray dog population

  ISSUE: ‘There’s no one single solution, and multiple strategies must be applied to manage stray dogs,’ National Tsing Hua University academic Yen Shih-ching said

  • By Esme Yeh / Staff reporter
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  A reflection on the euthanasia-free policy of Taiwan suggests that a systemic approach focused on source control could be the way forward amid a growing number of incidents involving free-roaming dogs and wild animals.

  The biennial Asia for Animals Conference, the largest gathering of animal rights advocates in Asia, took place in Taiwan for the first time late last month, with more than 790 speakers from more than 25 countries sharing their experience in promoting animal welfare.

  One of the most pressing topics at the conference was the management of stray dogs, which was brought up by several Taiwanese speakers in their keynote speeches.

  

  Panelists participate in the Asia for Animals Conference in Taipei in an undated photograph.

  Photo: Esme Yeh, Taipei Times

  Faith for Animals chief executive director and veterinarian Kuo Hsuan (郭璇), who engaged in stray dog sterilization initiatives while in college, said her organization began to sterilize stray dogs in Taipei in 2014, with the dogs microchipped and vaccinated against rabies before being released.

  The approach, known as trap-neuter-return (TNR), has already been used on more than 27,000 stray dogs across five administrative areas, including Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Keelung and Hsinchu County, she said.

  The number of puppies received by shelters across Taipei fell by 91 percent from 2015 to last year, while complaints about stray dogs dropped by 87 percent over the same period, she said, adding that the four other administrative regions recorded similar outcomes as well.

  Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan deputy executive director Chen Yu-min (陳玉敏), who has dealt with animal welfare advocacy for 30 years, said holding owners responsible would help cut off a major source of stray dogs at the root.

  “I don’t agree with using the TNR approach in Taiwan, because I don’t find it suitable for the local environment,” Chen said.

  Animal protection initiatives in Taiwan are a contentious issue between dog rights and wildlife protection groups, as well as among dog welfare advocates themselves, she said.

  The “no-kill” policy was implemented in 2017, as many argued that putting dogs to death was inhumane, but animal shelters soon became overcrowded with captured stray dogs as a result, she said.

  “Many dogs at shelters could not receive euthanasia due to the public perception, even though these dogs were already critically ill or handicapped, and had to live in pain,” she said.

  Given poor living conditions at shelters, the TNR approach was introduced to gradually reduce the stray dog population while allowing them to return to human communities, she said.

  However, over the past few years, more conflicts have been recorded between proliferating free-roaming dogs and wild animals, or even people, she said, citing the death of a 76-year-old man who was mauled by three stray dogs while swimming near Kaohsiung.

  About 63 percent of the animal protection budget, or NT$862.68 million (US$28.24 million), was allocated to bolster the “no kill” policy from 2020 to 2023, but the TNR approach is unrealistic unless owners are held responsible for abandoning dogs, she said.

  Speaking from the ecological perspective, National Tsing Hua University ecology associate professor Yen Shih-ching (顏士清) said that ending outdoor feeding is as important as holding owners responsible.

  Natural enemies and food resources are the two elements that determine the environmental carrying capacity for a species, he said.

  Dogs are one of the biggest carnivorous predators in the environment of lower-elevation hills in Taiwan, following only Formosan black bears and clouded leopards, he said.

  Data from the Taiwan Biodiversity Research Institute’s Wildlife Rescue and Research Center showed there were few incidents of pangolins entering the center for rescue due to dog attacks from 2001 to 2015, he said.

  However, such incidents surged in 2018 and continued to increase over the following years, mainly because stray dogs proliferated after the “no kill” policy was implemented in 2017, Yen said.

  Similar findings showed that the Reeves’ muntjac population in Kaohsiung’s Shoushan National Natural Park had decreased by more than 90 percent from 2017 to 2021, particularly as a high-intensity TNR program executed around the park in 2018 had 85 percent of female stray dogs spayed, he said.

  “In ideal scenarios, free-roaming dogs can be reduced to few or none 10 years later if the sterilization rate of female dogs reaches 75 percent to 87 percent,” he said, citing a population viability analysis.

  However, in the real world, the continued arrival of new dogs would offset the effect of sterilization three to four years later, Yen said, citing the analysis.

  Free-roaming dog populations must be controlled by blocking new arrivals and removing existing dogs, he said.

  “There’s no one single solution, and multiple strategies must be applied to manage stray dogs,” he said. “I highly agree with the sterilization approach, but other methods must also be incorporated.”
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