A private organization yesterday teamed up with the Taipei City Government to launch a Web site to help reunite pet owners with lost pets and to provide a venue for prospective pet owners to adopt stray animals.
The Help-Save-A-Pet Fund Taiwan (流浪動物之家基金會) yesterday launched its Web site which includes, among other things, information on stray animals temporarily housed at the city's Taipei Municipal Institute for Animal Health (台北市動物檢驗所) and its commissioned veterinary hospitals.
The Web site, which is updated every day, posts information on each animal for a period of seven days. If, after that period, no one shows interest in adopting the animal, it will be put to sleep.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Taipei Deputy Mayor Bai Hsiu-hsiung (
"Modern technology has made locating lost pets more convenient. People no longer need to place a lost-and-found ad in the newspapers, nor make the effort to post flyers around their neighborhood to locate their lost pets," Bai said.
Lily Wang (
"Dogs are living creatures just like you and me. If you treat them well, they'll repay your kindness more than you can imagine."
Wang, who started to care for stray dogs 13 years ago, formed the foundation in 1994. It keeps about 500 stray dogs on its approximately 3,300m2 lot in Taipei County's Kungliao (
Holding his dog in his hands, Jeff Locker, an entertainer and the spokesperson for the activity, said the problem of the city's stray dogs is due to people's negligence.
"[The problem] lies in the people," he said. "Before you decide to keep a pet, you must realize that it's a lifetime commitment. You just can't abandon a pet because it's no longer cute."
The city currently has an estimated 18,000 stray dogs.
Since the Animal Protection Law (
Statistics show that Taipei's dog adoption rate was the highest in the nation -- up from 16 percent in 1998 to 35 percent in 1999. The 1999 neutering rate for domestic dogs also ranked the highest in the country -- reaching 30 percent.
The institute also says the number of stray dogs put to sleep is the fifth-lowest among the nation's 23 counties and cities -- about 800 per month or 10,000 per year.
For more information, visit the foundation's Web site at http://www.hsapf.org.tw
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
RSS