February 5, 2017
Taiwan has banned euthanising
animals in shelters, which follows the tragic suicide last year of a vet
burdened with the task of putting down animals.
The law came into effect Saturday,
two years after it was passed by parliament—a period meant to prepare shelters
for the ban.
But during the wait, animal lover
Chien Chih-cheng took her own life with euthanasia drugs, reportedly upset at
having to kill animals at the
shelter she worked at.
Reports at the time said Chien
was called a "butcher" by activists.
Her death sparked calls for
authorities to improve conditions for animals and staff at shelters.
An animal welfare group, Life
Conservationist Association, estimated more than 1.2 million animals not
adopted from shelters have been put down since 1999.
"Animal protection in Taiwan
has moved towards a new milestone," the association's executive director
Ho Tsung-hsun said in a statement.
But Taiwan's Council of
Agriculture warned the ban would lead to a deterioration in the quality of
shelters through a surging intake or it may discourage the capture of strays.
"It's impossible for there
to be no problems," said Wang Chung-shu, deputy chief of the animal
husbandry department, according to The China Times.
He said Taiwan's ban was
"quite idealised", adding that manpower was a problem because the
vet's suicide had had a "chilling effect" on the sector, according to
the report.
Even before the legislation, the
number of animals being put down had been steadily declining.
Last year, 12.38 percent of the
64,276 animals in public shelters were euthanised, according to official
statistics.
That compares with 94,741 animals
in shelters in 2014, of which 26.45 percent were put down.
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