Stray dogs treated like garbage: group

Countless animals, mostly dogs and cats, kept in the animal shelters in townships around the country did not receive proper treatment, said Environment & Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST).

The group surveyed and visited 325 townships throughout Taiwan and found that over 80 percent of these townships enabled the cleaning service teams to capture street animals — an action that literally perceives the animals as waste, according to EAST.

Many shelters were located in garbage dumps with no janitors looking after the animals, said Chu Tseng-hung, director of EAST, adding that some workers of the dumps shirked their responsibility by saying the shelters were not part of their duties.

Some animals were kept in spaces with no shelter from the sun and rains, noted Chu.

Staff from EAST also witnessed animals eating moldy feeds from containers with worms, ants and droppings mixed in the boxes; some dogs and cats were locked in huge cages with no food or water, said the foundation. The group cited animal shelters in Taipei County as an example. Some prohibited people from taking photos of the dogs. Animal shelters in Tucheng and Yingge were almost completely covered with canvas and plastic sheets. Employees from the animal refuge in Hsindian asked the EAST staff to file an application for a photo shoot and made them wait until the place was cleaned. According to figures provided by EAST, from 1999 to 2008, animal refuges around the country had housed nearly 60,000 animals; out of which, 11 percent were adopted, 77 percent received euthanasia, and left 12 percent unaccounted for.

Before the Animal Protection Act enacted in 1997, most stray animals were electrocuted, starved or buried to death; 12 years later, some animals still did not receive as much respect they deserved, noted EAST. The animal foundation urged government officials to face up to the issue.

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