A coalition of wildlife conservation groups yesterday urged lawmakers to freeze the budget of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal Welfare Department until it presents a plan to reduce the nation’s stray dog population.
Taiwan Walk for Wildlife head Lee Tsung-chen (李宗宸) told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei that the government’s “trap-neuter-release” approach to stray dog management had failed at great social cost to the public.
While there are no specific data focusing on stray dogs, traffic accidents involving animals have caused 42 deaths and 14,030 injuries over the past five years, Lee said.
Moreover, the Transportation Research Institute estimates put the social costs associated with stray or free-roaming animals at more than NT$3.64 billion (US$115.3 million), he said.
Leopard Cat Association of Taiwan board member Cheng Hsien-tsan (鄭憲燦) said Changhua County is the only municipality that records data on agricultural losses caused by stray dogs.
Using Changhua’s data to project nationwide statistics, it is estimated that there are more than 550 cases of stray dogs breaking into livestock enclosures per year, causing at least NT$30 million in financial losses, Cheng said.
The coalition urged the ministry to begin collecting data on agricultural losses and traffic accidents caused by stray dogs, and to amend the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法) so that people who routinely feed stray dogs would be legally recognized as their owners.
The legislature should also freeze funding for the Department of Animal Welfare until it puts forward a detailed plan to reduce the stray dog population, the groups said.
There have been several high-profile instances of stray dogs attacking people, including one last year in which a Kaohsiung man died after being attacked by strays while swimming, they said.
Department of Animal Welfare Director Chiang Wen-chuan (江文全) said that while feeding stray dogs is “inappropriate,” in some cases it is being done as part of a “transitional approach” to get them sterilized.
Ministry statistics showed that the nation’s estimated stray dog population fell from 159,697 in 2022 to 141,584 in 2024 — a 11.34 percent reduction, Chiang said.
Under current laws, courts have only recognized people as legally responsible for stray dogs if they had fed them regularly at a fixed location, he said.
The key to controlling the stray dog population is addressing the problem at its source — by making sure dog owners do not abandon their pets, do not allow them to roam freely and get them neutered or spayed, Chiang said.
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