NEWS AC Stray dog control plan Taiwan

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The China Post, Taiwan Friday, March 28, 2008

 

Owners to be fined for walking unregistered pets in Taipei City - CNA

 

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Taipei city government has decided to take

punitive measures to reduce the number of stray dogs in the city and

to prevent a possible outbreak of rabies, its animal health authority

warned.

 

The Taipei Municipal Institute for Animal Health (TMIAH) will launch

a two-stage program in April aimed at encouraging owners of dogs and

cats to obtain identity chip implants for their pets, to have them

vaccinated against rabies, and to have them sterilized, according to

a statement issued by the institute.

 

The program is being introduced to highlight animal rights and to

reduce the number of dogs that are abandoned when they become ill or

when their owners no longer want them.

 

Another major goal of the 2008 program is to expand knowledge of

rabies prevention and control among pet owners, according to the

statement.

 

In the first stage of the program in April to May, the TMIAH will ask

its stray dogs catchers and local police to approach pet owners in

public areas and try to persuade them to have their pets implanted

with ID chips and vaccinated annually against rabies.

 

From June onward, when the second stage of the pet control program is

launched, TMIAH personnel and policemen will issue warning tickets to

people walking a dog or cat that has no ID chip or has not been

vaccinated.

 

If the pet owners fail to comply with the regulations within a

specified period,they will be fined NT$3,000 (US$99.95) to NT$15,000,

in accordance with the animal protection law.

 

Pet owners who neglect to vaccinate their animals annually against

rabies will be liable to fines ranging from NT$10,000 to NT$50,000,

according to the statement.

 

The TMIAH also said that as part of efforts to encourage pet

sterilization, it will continue this year to provide subsidies, which

the city government introduced nine years ago, to encourage people to

have their pets neutered.

 

Under the program, pet owners are entitled to a subsidy from the city

government of NT$800 if they have an officially registered male cat

or dog sterilized, and NT$1,500 if a female has been sterilized.

 

However, in 2008, the number of pet owners to whom the subsidy will

be available will be limited to 2,850 due to budget constraints,

TMIAH officials said.

 

Persons seeking the subsidy have been advised to contact the TMIAH at

telephone number 87891739 for detailed information, or to check the

institute's Web site at www. tmiah.tcg.gov.tw.

 

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Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

Telephone: 360-579-2505

Fax: 360-579-2575

E-mail: anmlpepl

Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

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