The owner of a miniature horse was fined and ordered to attend an animal protection course after the horse was found on Sunday roaming freely in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投) for the second time this month, the Taipei City Animal Protection Office said yesterday.
Police at the Beitou Precinct said they received a report on Sunday afternoon that a miniature horse was wandering along Lane 517 of Daye Road.
Concerned the animal could cause an accident amid heavy traffic, officers rushed to the scene and recognized it as the same horse involved in an incident on May 1, they said.
Photo provided by police
Police again contacted the stable and ordered staff to retrieve the horse.
Under Article 84 of the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例), owners who allow animals to roam on roads and obstruct traffic can face fines of NT$300 to NT$600.
Police cited the owner and referred the case to the animal protection office, saying the stable might have been negligent in managing the animal.
Photo courtesy of the Chiayi County Government
The office said the incidents were serious, particularly as the first case was still under review when the second occurred.
The two incidents were combined for penalty purposes, resulting in a NT$9,000 fine and mandatory attendance of a four-hour animal protection course.
Allowing the horse to wander unattended in public also contravened Article 20 of the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法), which requires pets in public spaces to be accompanied by a person aged seven or older, said Chen Jui-bin (陳瑞濱), head of the office’s animal rescue team.
In a separate incident, the Chiayi County Livestock Disease Control Center yesterday said it fined a Changhua County man NT$110,000 for abandoning a chow chow.
The dog was rescued on March 2 from a drainage ditch in Minsyong Township (民雄), it said.
Pet registration records identified the owner as a man surnamed Chang (張) from Yuanlin City (員林).
Authorities ordered Chang to retrieve the dog and explain the circumstances, but he failed to appear or provide a reasonable explanation, which the center said confirmed that the animal had been abandoned, the center said.
The dog had also not been neutered or vaccinated against rabies, as required under the Animal Protection Act and the Act Governing the Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Diseases (動物傳染病防治條例), it said.
The center confiscated the dog, imposed a combined fine of NT$110,000 and added Chang to a national blacklist barring him from adopting animals.
It urged pet owners to register their animals, have them neutered and ensure they receive regular rabies vaccinations, adding that abandonment not only causes animal suffering, but can also create public safety, traffic and disease-control issues.
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