A society with a nominally Buddhist majority, Taiwan ironically remains an island of needless suffering for numerous non-human animals. Despite years of calls by non-government groups -- namely the Life Conservationist Association (LCA) and the umbrella group the Ecology Conservation Alliance -- the Animal Protection Law did not become legislation until October 1998, and only after tremendous local and international pressures had been exerted.

Prior to this anti-cruelty law, there was only the Wildlife Conservation Law (1994), which forbade the breeding and sale of only endangered and protected species. Needless to say, the estimated 1.5 million abandoned dogs stuffed into island's 70 pounds, essentially animal concentration camps, did not fit the category and were thus left to the logic of an unregulated pet industry responding only to the latest fads and whims. At the same time the Taiwanese, encouraged partly by the industry and not held back by a strong ethic of human-animal relationship, act as consumers for whom the pet, pedigreed or not, remains a mere commodity rather than a sentient companion worthy of proper care. Once no longer fashionable, pets, like all commodities, are abandoned to roam in the streets until human health concerns drive up public pressures to deal with them. At that point the typical government "solution" is to have sanitation workers pick them up as garbage; indeed, in Taiwan the pounds are often located near garbage dumps. There the animals, out of sight of the public eye, are allowed to starve to death if not killed outright; the survivors are left to spread diseases amongst themselves.

On these issues Taiwan Environmental Action Network (TEAN) seeks to contribute to the important task of bringing and magnifying international attention to focus on the plight of animals in Taiwan. The successful passage of the Animal Protection Law (1998) is of course a crucial but insufficient first step. Judging from past records of enforcing environmental and species protection legislation, it is a certainty that much pressure from all concerned human beings will need to be exerted on the Taiwanese Government to ensure proper interpretation and enforcement. At the same time TEAN hopes that international attention will work in synergism with on-going Taiwanese grassroots campaigns to ensure animal rights issues have a rightful place in public discussions and scrutiny. In the long run we hope a new ethic of human-animal relationship can take root in society and culture.

We appeal for the following actions in Taiwan:
Strict enforcement of the Animal Protection Law
Animal wardens to enforce the Animal Protection Law
Education and re-homing centers for stray dogs, rather than concentration camp shelters
A massive scale neutering and spaying program
A practical, extensive and sustained education program

03/31/03 | Posted by calviniwen