The Life Conservationist Association yesterday criticized the Ministry of Education (MOE) for asking universities to deal with stray animals on campus in a rabies prevention effort, causing some schools to use inappropriate measures to capture the animals.
The association’s executive director, Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳), said all universities and colleges received an official document from the ministry in August, asking them to strengthen the management of stray dogs and cats on campus to prevent the spread of rabies, but without clear instructions on how to deal with the animals.
“Upon receiving the document, every school has gone its own way. Some are doing pretty good respecting animal lives, but some are taking inappropriate measures,” he said. “A better approach should be to create a natural defense system based on the animals’ natural behaviors, but some schools only try to capture as many as they can.”
Having surveyed more than a dozen universities, Ho said some schools use the inhumane method of asking city dog catchers to capture all stray animals on campus, adding that this approach leads to many animals being put to death at shelters.
In response, MOE official Han Shan-Min (韓善民) said the ministry did not ask the schools to get rid of the animals, but if some schools are found taking extreme measures, then it will issue another official document to the schools stressing disease prevention, ethical care for animals and life education.
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
The government would cancel kendo practitioner Su Yu-cheng’s (蘇郁程) nationality if he is confirmed to have represented China in the World Kendo Championships in Milan, Italy, last week, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. “We have consulted the Sports Administration and were told that athletes participating in the championships must have the nationality of the country that they represent. They must also present their passports as proof,” council spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a weekly news conference. “If Su indeed represented China in the championships, we suspect that he has obtained Chinese nationality.” The Act Governing Relations Between the People of the
FATAL ILLNESS: Untreated symptoms can rapidly worsen to complications such as high fever, seizures and loss of consciousness, and can be life-threatening, a doctor said Hospitals have been reporting dozens of people with heat-related illnesses every day over the past week, given continuous high daytime temperatures, so recognizing the early signs of heatstroke is crucial in preventing serious complications, a Taipei City Hospital emergency physician said. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a heat alert for 19 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures in New Taipei City, Miaoli County and Pingtung County likely to exceed 38°C, and temperatures in 12 cities and counties likely to exceed 36°C for three days straight. More than a dozen people were taken to hospitals for heat-related illnesses every day from