(TW) Neutering program for stray cats launched in Taipei City

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Neutering program for stray cats launched in Taipei City

Taipei, Jan. 17

 

(CNA) The Taipei city government and several animal protection groups launched a

sterilization program for stray cats Thursday in a bid to reduce the number of

feral animals in Taiwan's largest city.

 

Representatives from the Animal Protection Association of the Republic of China,

the Taipei Stray Cats Protection Association and a group of city councilors

announced the program in a news conference at the Taipei city council.

 

" Each member of the public should help sterilize one stray cat, " animal

conservationists, municipal officials ad councilors urged, stressing the

importance of treating stray animals in a humanitarian

way.

 

One of them also displayed how to use a specially designed trap to catch stray

cats in order to sterilize them and eventually release them.

 

The Taipei city government will this year earmark budgets for a trap, neuter,

release program for some 500 stray cats.

 

According to ROC Animal Protection Association Chairman Chen Shei-saint, his

association will provide more traps to the public and groups dedicated to animal

protection free of charge if the program

succeeds.

 

Currently, only 30 traps are officially available, association workers claimed.

 

(By Flor Wang)

 

http://english.www.gov.tw/TaiwanHeadlines/index.jsp?recordid=40437 & action=CNA

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Taipei residents asked to help catch the city's stray cats

Taipei Times

 

MANAGING MOGGIES: The Taipei Stray Cat Protection Association neutered almost

500 cats last year and it is hoping to double that this year

By Angelica Oung

STAFF REPORTER

Friday, Jan 18, 2008, Page 2

 

Animal welfare organizations yesterday held a press conference calling on Taipei

residents to help capture stray cats so they can be neutered, a process approved

by the Taipei Municipal Institute for Animal Health (TMIAH).

 

The Taipei Stray Cat Protection Association (Taipei SCPA) and The Animal

Protection Association of the ROC (APA) said they would lend special cages to

the public that can be used to trap any stray cats in their neighborhood. The

associations would then take the felines away to be neutered before returning

the animals in a procedure known as Trap, Neuter and Release.

 

TIME-CONSUMING

 

The two organizations are calling on the public to help in their efforts because

trapping cats can be a time-consuming activity and neither the TMIAH nor animal

welfare societies have the manpower to trap as many cats as they would like.

 

Taipei's stray dog problem usually receives more attention from the public

because dogs are more visible, said Yen I-feng, director of the TMIAH. Cats,

meanwhile, are less visible because they tend to be nocturnal.

 

" However, they still cause nuisance to many residents by making noise and going

through trash, " Yen said.

 

LIMITED RESOURCES

 

Yen said that there could be " hundreds of thousands " of stray cats in Taipei.

The real number is hard to estimate.

 

" Unfortunately, the resources the government can devote to this cause are

limited, " Yen said. " Therefore, we hope that non-governmental organizations and

the public can pitch in and improve the situation. "

 

The Taipei SCPA neutered almost 500 cats last year. With the help of the public,

they hope to double that number this year, said the association's

secretary-general Huang Ching-yi.

 

INEXPENSIVE

 

" It is not expensive to neuter cats and we have found vets who will help us do

it at a discount, " Huang said. " Manpower is what is lacking. So we are looking

to train and recruit members of the public to help us catch cats for neutering. "

 

Cats already neutered can be identified by a notch cut in their ear.

 

Those wishing to participate in the program can call the APA at 02-2704-0809.

 

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/01/18/2003397748