Pet trends come and go in Taiwan.
Model Lin Chih-ling's (
A pet owner, surnamed Tang who has cared for two miniature pigs for the past three years, extolled their virtues.
PHOTO: TSAN CHAO-YANG, TAIPEI TIMES
"They're clean, they don't smell like dogs, they don't bark like dogs, and they're very affect-ionate," Tang told the Taipei Times.
However, there are many potential pitfalls in store for the would-be miniature pig owner -- buying a pig should not be a decision entered into lightly.
English Teacher Peter Dearman was on his way to a convenience store in Tianmu when he was struck by an usual sight -- a tiny striped porcine creature stranded in the traffic.
After chasing the little pig down, Dearman's students named her "Heather," and he entrusted her to the care of Animals Taiwan, making her the animal welfare organization's first porcine rescue.
Animals Taiwan was founded a year ago by Sean McCormack, who resides in Taipei. The animal-rights group advocates "no killing," which means that no animals are euthanized unless they are suffering or terminally ill.
McCormack and his team has put up posters of "Heather" in the hope that her real owners will come forward. However, he conceded that Heather had probably been abandoned by owners who realized that she was not a true miniature pig, but rather a very young female formosan wild boar that will grow to more than 120kg.
"Look at her, it's like she's wearing little high heels," McCormack said .
Indeed, Heather was skittering around the yard on her slim trotters, sniffing, with surprising delicacy.
She is about the size of a sturdy, barrel-shaped York-shire Terrier right now.
"She loves to sniffle and roll in my clothes. She went missing for a while and I found her hiding ... she had buried herself in my laundry," McCormack said.
McCormack is adamant that he would not let Heather be sold for meat.
"It's not an option. I'm not against eating meat per se, but once an animal comes into our care, they're safe," he said, adding that Heather is still looking for a home.
Liu Yin-Cheng (
"I saw a lot of cases of unscrupulous pet dealers passing off ordinary baby pigs as miniature pigs a few years ago, but demand [for miniature pet pigs] has been catching up with supply recently," Liu said.
Liu quotes a reasonable price for a true miniature pig from a reputable dealer at around NT$10,000 to NT$ 20,000, depending on condition and lineage.
Liu also scoffed at the myth that one can keep pigs petite by feeding them less.
"The pig's eventual size is determined by genetics," Liu said. "You can't keep it small by starving it."
Liu warned against unreasonable expectations that a miniature pig will stay a piglet forever.
"I've seen mature minipigs ranging from 30kg to 50kg," he said.
"If you're still wondering whether a pig is right for you, don't have one," advised a former miniature pig owner, who wished to remain unidentified.
"It's just like having a child around all the time. They're smarter than dogs, and more demanding," the former hog owner said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and Chunghwa Telecom yesterday confirmed that an international undersea cable near Keelung Harbor had been cut by a Chinese ship, the Shunxin-39, a freighter registered in Cameroon. Chunghwa Telecom said the cable had its own backup equipment, and the incident would not affect telecommunications within Taiwan. The CGA said it dispatched a ship under its first fleet after receiving word of the incident and located the Shunxin-39 7 nautical miles (13km) north of Yehliu (野柳) at about 4:40pm on Friday. The CGA demanded that the Shunxin-39 return to seas closer to Keelung Harbor for investigation over the
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
An apartment building in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) collapsed last night after a nearby construction project earlier in the day allegedly caused it to tilt. Shortly after work began at 9am on an ongoing excavation of a construction site on Liuzhang Street (六張街), two neighboring apartment buildings tilted and cracked, leading to exterior tiles peeling off, city officials said. The fire department then dispatched personnel to help evacuate 22 residents from nine households. After the incident, the city government first filled the building at No. 190, which appeared to be more badly affected, with water to stabilize the
RSS