The Taichung District Court has sentenced a Vietnamese migrant worker to 12 months in prison for the illegal butchering and sale of a stray cat and an endangered leopard cat.
The worker, surnamed Pham, along with his girlfriend, surnamed Nguyen, helped another Vietnamese migrant worker, surnamed Phan, sell animals that Phan hunted, prosecutors said.
Phan absconded from his employment contract in October 2020 and was later found to have been hunting animals for profit using a modified rifle, court documents showed.
Photo: Chang Jui-chen, Taipei Times
Phan on March 13 killed a stray cat, which Pham helped him sell for NT$1,500, the documents showed.
On April 19, Phan killed a leopard cat, which Pham helped him sell on Facebook for NT$3,000, with Nguyen aiding in translation; Pham received NT$500 for travel expenses, prosecutors said.
The following month, Taichung police arrested Pham and Nguyen, who were questioned and placed under surveillance.
Police in June obtained an arrest warrant and attempted to detain Phan in Taichung’s Sinshe District (新社), but he escaped after threatening police with his hunting rifle.
He was apprehended the following day.
In their search of Phan’s premises, the police seized firearms, bullets and other animal carcasses, court documents showed.
As the police found deer meat and pangolin scales, they determined that the men were not specifically targeting leopard cats, but were hunting any wild animals they could find.
Phan was placed in judicial detention, and Taichung prosecutors charged him with threatening police, possession of illegal firearms and hunting endangered wildlife.
The court sentenced Pham to eight months in jail for the illegal sale and trade of protected wildlife under the Act on Wildlife Conservation (野生動物保育法) and four months for the illegal butchering and sale of animal products under the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法). He was also fined NT$50,000. The case can be appealed.
Phan’s sentence is pending, while Nguyen received deferred prosecution.
Additional reporting by CNA
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