The Taoyuan Office of Animal Care and Control has initiated legal proceedings against a local woman after finding more than a score of dead cats and dogs in a Longtan District (龍潭) townhouse.
On Monday last week, animal protection officials searched the property and discovered 16 desiccated dead animals and body parts strewn amid heaps of trash, office head Wang Te-chi (王得吉) said.
The reported figure is a rough estimate, since some of the remains were too decomposed to count, he said.
A woman surnamed Lee (李), the sole resident and former tenant of the property, was informed that the office is seeking to press animal abuse charges, Wang said, adding that Lee, besides contravening the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法), might have broken the Criminal Code’s ban on animal cruelty, an offense punishable by a sentence of up to five years in prison commutable to a NT$500,000 to NT$5 million fine (US$15,820 to US$158,198).
Wang said the property’s landlord, who recently inherited the house, had previously asked police to investigate Lee after recieving numerous complaints from neighbors about animal noises emanating from the building.
Lee refused police entry and then left the dwelling altogether, without making any arrangements for the animals under her care, he said.
When the lease expired on Feb. 24, the landlord entered the building with Lee’s consent and, being alarmed by the filth, immediately called the police, who in turn contacted the office, Wang said.
In other news, a man surnamed Chan (詹) in Changhua’s Tianwei Township (田尾) was admitted to a mental institution after allegedly hoarding the equivalent of six garbage trucks of junk at the family home.
The man, who lived with his 70-year-old father, collected recyclables for a living and had a prior conviction for burying materials on the property of others, for which he served six months in prison, the Tianwei Township Office said on Monday last week.
After his release from prison, the man began to stockpile recyclables at home to the irritation of his neighbors, the office said.
Chan’s father tried to convince him to clean up their home, but was told that these things were his property and he would “fight anyone to the death who tries to take them,” the office quoted the father as saying.
Fearing he had no choice, Chan’s father called the Changhua County Public Health Bureau with the help of township representative Chang Sheng-pin (張勝彬), Chang said.
The man was removed from his home after receiving a tentative diagnosis of hoarding disorder and other mental illnesses, while the bureau’s sanitation workers helped the father move the junk outside for collection, he said.
Chang said that trucks were dispatched to complete disposal of Chan’s things.
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