An increasing number of cafes and other businesses in Taiwan are keeping animals, which draw in people who are seeking the next perfect shot for their Instagram accounts.
In the past these were mostly standard house pets, such as cats and dogs, which are accustomed to living indoors and being around people.
However, raccoons have become popular, as well as alpacas and other “unusual” animals that require specialty care and specific environments to thrive.
In late June, a customer recorded a video of the owner of a coffee shop in Taipei apparently unleashing a border collie on a raccoon, who was the star attraction at the business. When other allegations of abuse surfaced, the Animal Protection Office took away the raccoon and fined the owner, who later apologized to the public.
While it is legal to own a raccoon in Taiwan and there are the Regulations Governing the Management of Performing Animals (動物展演管理辦法), it is difficult to apply those rules to pets at cafes, Taipei City Councilor Yang Ching-yu (楊靜宇) said on Friday last week.
Yang, a veterinarian, urged the city to introduce an ordinance regulating how to treat animals in workplaces to prevent abuse, as fining people is not enough of a deterrent.
On Monday, Taichung City Councilor Huang Shou-ta (黃守達) cited accounts of raccoons at stores self-harming or exhibiting repetitive behavior due to inadequate space, and rabbits huddling in fear after prolonged close contact with people.
There are only two firms in Taichung that have licenses for performing animals, but there are numerous stores that use animals to attract customers in scenarios that fall outside the law.
Huang said that unless the animals are blatantly abused and kept in poor conditions, there is nothing the city can do.
The majority of business owners with in-store animals love them and have done their homework about providing adequate care, but due to Instagram’s explosive popularity, such businesses are becoming extremely lucrative. As the trend grows and more people jump on the bandwagon to make a quick buck, there will only be more cases of malpractice. How many people know how to care for a raccoon or an alpaca?
Regulations are definitely needed, but as several experts said in response to Yang’s report, they would be tricky to enforce. Some owners might not be using the animals to promote their business, but simply have pets at work or care for strays. Requirements and sanctions need to be clearly laid out so there is as little ambiguity as possible, and city resources are not wasted.
There should be limitations on what kinds of animal can be kept at a store, otherwise unscrupulous owners might keep acquiring increasingly unusual and difficult to care for pets as gimmicks to stand out among the competition.
Raccoons are difficult enough. In mating season, the males become territorial and aggressive, so they must be kept away from people.
More importantly, requiring an application to own such an animal, introducing licensing and enforcing animal welfare courses for specific animals before a business can use an animal to attract customers would at least make people think twice before doing so.
This would bring awareness that people cannot treat animals however they want.
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations