A rodent’s interruption of a professional baseball game at the Taipei Dome on Wednesday sparked renewed discussion of rat control efforts, weeks ahead of the city’s mayoral election.
Just before the eighth inning of Wednesday’s game between the Fubon Guardians and the Wei Chuan Dragons, a small rat was spotted running out onto the field at the Taipei Dome between home plate and the first-base dugout.
Stadium workers quickly surrounded the rodent, using a paper bag to pin it down, and carried it off the field. Although quickly resolved, the incident nevertheless became fodder for political discussion the next day.
Photo: CNA
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said he had already asked Farglory Group, the Taipei Dome’s owner and operator, to carry out disinfection.
Taipei's sports, environmental and health departments also jointly inspected conditions at the dome, and tasked the Department of Sports with monitoring the situation and imposing penalties if necessary, said Chiang, a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋), the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) nominee for Taipei mayor, was asked about the incident during a campaign stop yesterday.
Problems with rats have "always existed" in Taipei, Shen said.
However, he had recently noticed more people complaining about rat sightings in their homes, Shen said.
Based on feedback he has collected, many Taipei residents also have strong feelings about the reduced number of public trash cans, which has caused inconvenience while also failing to reduce the number of rat sightings, Shen said.
For several weeks in May, talk of an alleged "rat problem" in Taipei spread from the Internet into the media and city politics. The issue receded from the public eye after the Taipei City Government launched a multi-day cleaning drive and pledged more aggressive control measures.
Regarding the issue of public trash cans, Taipei Department of Environmental Protection Director Shyu Shyh-shiun (徐世勲) said last month that the city had been removing bins to stop people from illegally disposing of household garbage.
Excluding those in tourist areas and business districts, which are being kept in place, the city has decreased the number of public trash cans over several years from about 2,000 to 806, Shyu said.
The local elections are to be held on Nov. 28.
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