Animal rights groups and the Consumers’ Foundation called on the government to draft an act on pet transport, as no law exists to regulate the welfare of animals when they are being transported, which results in inconsistency in services and surcharges across the nation.
Management of pet travel varies from one operator to another in terms of size restrictions or surcharges, with several bus companies not allowing animals at all, according to an investigation by the foundation into the nation’s 57 transport operators.
However, the Transportation Management Regulations (汽車運輸業管理規則) stipulate that small pets can travel on buses at half price — while guide dogs can travel for free — except in the case of aggressive animals such as snakes or crocodiles, foundation secretary-general Lu Hsin-chang (盧信昌) said.
The government should standardize pet transport by drafting legislation after consultating with operators, he said.
Most existing regulations address animal transport only tangentially, as they have evolved from traffic rules rather than animal rights, Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan chief executive Wu Hung (朱增宏) said.
The Animal Protection Act (動物保護法) allows for the transport of live animals as part of economic activities, including pigs, cows and sheep, with the exception of domestic fowl, Chu said, adding that the act should be amended to make up the inadequacy.
Meanwhile, the Pet Friends Alliance is calling for the nation’s taxi drivers to create a pet-friendly transport system, with 21 cabbies and a taxi company already offering pet taxi services, alliance chairman Louis Tsai (路易斯) said.
The alliance gives out certificates to taxi drivers who are willing to transport animal passengers, he said.
Among them is a 40-year-old taxi driver, referred to by the pseudonym Ou Yang (歐陽), who became a full-time pet taxi driver after he witnessed an emergency involving a large Bernese mountain dog — which nearly died due to the lack of available transportation — after which he came to understand the importance of animals’ right to travel, he said.
He described himself as an “animal maniac,” and has served various types of passengers, including dogs, cats and sugar gliders, he said.
He keeps the trunk of his taxi empty and has covered it with layers of waterproof mats for animal travelers, offering complimentary cookies and jerky to ease passengers’ travel tension, he said.
Transporting pets is a charity business, he said, as he does not add a surcharge to the fare, nor does he charge for waiting during veterinarian visits.
It takes between 14 and 16 hours to serve just five to six animal passengers, which is far from cost-effective, he said, adding that business was shaky in the first six months after he entered the market.
He also transports abandoned pets to shelters, he said, adding that he once traveled from Taipei to Kaohsiung to rescue two abandoned Labradors.
Even though animals might leave a smell in the car or scratches on his arms, he is not bothered at all, because animals are not at all different from normal human passengers, he said.
The alliance has been encouraging pet taxi services for more than three years, because taxis — the most utilized form of transportation by pet owners for veterinarian visits or to do outdoor training — are usually not willing to transport pets, as most drivers balk at taking animals for fear that a lingering smell might drive away human passengers, Tsai said.
Improved animal transport might help reduce pet abandonment, as owners might find it less troublesome to take their pets out, he said.
However, many taxi companies willing to provide a pet taxi service pulled out from the market, as they said customers had complained of smells and hairs left behind by dogs and cats, he said, adding that the number of pet taxi drivers has stagnated.
‘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
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS