Two Kaohsiung junior high school students who burned a puppy to death on campus were caught after a local animal charity offered a reward.
The Kaohsiung City Government’s Livestock Health and Inspection Laboratory said yesterday that the students, accompanied by family members, had admitted their guilt over the incident.
The two students showed remorse for what they did and pled for an opportunity to correct their wrongdoing and make a fresh start, the laboratory said, adding that the pair also vowed to serve as volunteers for animal welfare.
They may be subject to fines of between NT$100,000 and NT$500,000 in accordance with the Animal Protection Law (動物保護法) after the city government decides on their liability, the laboratory said, adding that they may face jail time of up to one year if they repeat the offense.
The laboratory began an investigation into the case after a three-month old puppy was found seriously burned in front of Kaohsiung Municipal Cuei-Ping Junior High and Elementary School about two weeks ago.
The dog died shortly after it was taken to the Kaohsiung Concern Stray Animal Association by volunteers. About 80 percent of the puppy’s body suffered third-degree burns.
Association director Wang Chun-ching (王春經) received leads about the two students after she offered a NT$50,000 reward.
Wang said the two ninth-grade students invited two friends to watch as they torched the puppy after applying chafing fuel to the puppy’s body in the school hallway.
The two onlookers fled after the puppy wailed and scurried around in flames, Wang said.
Wang also brought the puppy’s ashes to confront the two students at the school on Monday, while school officials tried to appease angry animal rights activists.
“At first, the students thought it was fun and a practical joke, but they later realized how serious the matter was after counseling from their teacher. They immediately admitted their wrongdoing and showed remorse,” a press release issued by the school’s disciplinary division said.
The statement said the school had punished them by giving them two demerits each and had arranged counseling sessions for them and other students.
Foreign tourists who purchase a seven-day Taiwan Pass are to get a second one free of charge as part of a government bid to boost tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. A pair of Taiwan Passes is priced at NT$5,000 (US$156.44), an agency staff member said, adding that the passes can be used separately. The pass can be used in many of Taiwan’s major cities and to travel to several tourist resorts. It expires seven days after it is first used. The pass is a three-in-one package covering the high-speed rail system, mass rapid transport (MRT) services and the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle services,
Drinking a lot of water or milk would not help a person who has ingested terbufos, a toxic chemical that has been identified as the likely cause of three deaths, a health expert said yesterday. An 83-year-old woman surnamed Tseng (曾) and two others died this week after eating millet dumplings with snails that Tseng had made. Tseng died on Tuesday and others ate the leftovers when they went to her home to mourn her death that evening. Twelve people became ill after eating the dumplings following Tseng’s death. Their symptoms included vomiting and convulsions. Six were hospitalized, with two of them
DIVA-READY: The city’s deadline for the repairs is one day before pop star Jody Chiang is to perform at the Taipei Dome for the city’s Double Ten National Day celebrations The Taipei City Government has asked Farglory Group (遠雄集團) to repair serious water leaks in the Taipei Dome before Friday next week, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday, following complaints that many areas at the stadium were leaking during two baseball games over the weekend. The dome on Saturday and Sunday hosted two games in tribute to CTBC Brothers’ star Chou Szu-chi (周思齊) ahead of his retirement from the CPBL. The games each attracted about 40,000 people, filling the stadium to capacity. However, amid heavy rain, many people reported water leaking on some seats, at the entrance and exit areas, and the
BIG collection: The herbarium holds more than 560,000 specimens, from the Japanese colonial period to the present, including the Wulai azalea, which is now extinct in the wild The largest collection of plant specimens in Taiwan, the Taipei Botanical Garden’s herbarium, is celebrating its 100th anniversary with an exhibition that opened on Friday. The herbarium provides critical historical documents for botanists and is the first of its kind in Taiwan, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute director Tseng Yen-hsueh (曾彥學) said. It is housed in a two-story red brick building, which opened during 1924. At the time, it stored 30,000 plant specimens from almost 6,000 species, including Taiwanese plant samples collected by Tomitaro Makino, the “father of Japanese botany,” Tseng said. The herbarium collection has grown in the century since its