A database of people with a history of domestic violence or animal abuse would be launched in July to be used as reference at animal shelters, Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said yesterday.
The project, to be conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, aims to reduce the incidence of animal abuse, Chen told a committee meeting at the legislature to discuss proposed amendments to the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法).
From July, animal shelters nationwide would be provided with the database of names for reference when giving animals away for adoption, Chen said.
Photo: CNA
The council already has a “blacklist” of people who have been convicted of animal abuse, he said.
The collaboration with the health ministry would ensure that those convicted of domestic violence would also come up on a search, he added.
Regarding stray dog management, Chen said the council has been focusing on hot spot areas for its neutering campaign, rather than distributing resources evenly.
As of the end of last year, the council had identified 2,176 areas with more stray dogs than the average, he said.
Council personnel interviewed 69,754 households in the hot spots, finding 17,532 pet dogs and 29,470 strays, he added.
The total sterilization rate was 87.76 percent, Chen said.
According to the latest estimate, there are about 180,000 stray dogs nationwide, he said.
Legislators also asked about the effects of stray dogs on Reeves’ muntjacs in Kaohsiung’s Shoushan National Nature Park (壽山國家自然公園), whose population has fallen by more than 90 percent over the past decade.
Citing a 2019 study compiling six years of data from the park, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) said that stray dogs and cats have had a major impact on the survival of young muntjacs.
Only 50 to 64 muntjacs were estimated to live in the park, Chiu said.
Dogs are also responsible for half of reported pangolin injuries nationwide, he said, adding that hundreds of chickens are killed by strays every year.
However, only about 5 percent of the total stray dog population was taken to shelters in 2020, he added.
Although the council has relaxed some regulations for setting up animal shelters, the rules remain too strict and even existing shelters find it difficult to fully legalize their operations, Chiu said, urging the council to work with the Construction and Planning Agency to find a solution.
Chen said that tens of millions of New Taiwan dollars have been set aside for stray removal and neutering campaigns in collaboration with civic organizations.
People who feed strays could also face punishment from the Environmental Protection Administration, in accordance with the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法), he added.
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