Waste dispensers installed
To reduce the issue of dog litter in public, the New Taipei City Environmental Protection Bureau has installed 215 waste bag dispensers across 23 districts, with an accompanying online map — https://reurl.cc/oQmx6v — for the public to locate them. With the population of domestic dogs and cats rapidly expanding, pet waste is an important issue in urban management, the bureau said. The city has since 2021 been installing pet waste dispensers, including encouraging businesses to donate dispensers to promote themselves and encourage responsible pet ownership, it said. Pet Mall Co (魚中魚), the nation’s largest pet retail chain, has also donated 100,000 waste bags annually since 2022, it said. The bureau is inviting more companies to sponsor dispensers to improve the city’s environment and as a way to demonstrate corporate responsibility. People who fail to clean up after their pets would be fined up to NT$6,000, it said, adding that last year, it issued 114 fines and collected a total of NT$309,600. Should pet owners find that the waste dispensers are out of bags or out of order, they can contact the number written on the right side of the dispenser, it said.
Photo courtesy of the New Taipei City Environmental Protection Bureau
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