Thirteen rescued animals were scheduled to fly to Seattle in the US yesterday as part of a cross-ocean adoption program, the Animal Rescue Team Taiwan (ARTT) said.
The 13 dogs and cats rescued in southern Taiwan’s Liouciou Township (琉球) were to be flown to the US to seek new homes, despite the recent rabies outbreak on the island, said Antony Ni (倪京台), a volunteer in charge of foreign adoptions at ARTT.
The stray animals were only required to be vaccinated and undergo health examinations before entering the US, as there have been no rabies cases reported among cats or dogs in Taiwan so far, Ni said.
However, the outbreak has affected domestic adoptions. Because of the outbreak, fewer Taiwanese are willing to take on new pets and more pet owners have abandoned their dogs and cats, Ni said.
Animal catchers have received a higher number of reports about stray animals since last month when rabies cases were confirmed, the volunteer added.
Ni expressed gratitude to animal welfare groups in the US for helping the group of animals find new homes there.
According to the Central Epidemic Command Center for rabies yesterday, four more cases of rabies infection in ferret-badgers have been confirmed on Friday, bringing the total number of confirmed animal rabies infections to 88.
As of Friday, 356 wildlife carnivore samples have been sent for rabies testing, 87 of which, all of them Formosan ferret-badgers, have tested positive for rabies.
All but one of the cases in 42 townships across nine counties and cities involved Formosan ferret-badgers.
Taitung reported a rabid Asian house shrew late last month.
The centers added that the health authorities of both Tainan City and Pingtung County, where new cases were found, have been and will continue putting efforts into immunizing the cats and dogs in the mountains, where interaction with wild animals are more likely to take place.
Additional reporting by Alison Hsiao
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS