Like many people, 31-year-old Craig Hsu (徐哲偉) is infatuated with mobile apps, as he uses them constantly for personal and work purposes. One app he downloaded in early 2013 has had a very positive impact on his life, however, as Taipei Animal Adoption introduced him to a three-year-old dog named Ola. Hsu’s family adopted Ola, a mixed-breed female, from the Taipei Animal Shelter, which operates under the Taipei City Animal Protection Office (TCAPO). “By using the app to gain access to information about the types of dogs available for adoption, my family and I could do some ‘homework’ before paying a visit to the shelter. That saved us time and trouble,” Hsu says. “Now Ola is a member of our family, and I think the app’s convenience could help a lot more strays like her get adopted.”
Since the TCAPO released Taipei Animal Adoption in September 2012, the app’s descriptions and photos have allowed users to learn about the Taipei Animal Shelter’s cats and dogs. So far, the app has seen about 38,000 downloads, and its functionality improved in February this year with the addition of embedded video clips, the first batch of which helped get 16 dogs adopted in less than a month.
The popularity of Taipei Animal Adoption reveals several key aspects of Taiwanese society. The country’s well-known high-tech industry and dense network infrastructure encourage the proliferation of gadgets like smartphones and tablets, and the use of such technology to help homeless cats and dogs demonstrates not only compassion, but also an increasing emphasis on the welfare of all animals.
Recent years have seen the Republic of China (ROC) government catch up with international animal welfare practices and standards by following the three-pronged strategy of establishing dedicated agencies, passing legislation and promoting public-private partnerships. As for agencies, 2010 saw the formation of the Animal Protection Section under the Department of Animal Industry of the Council of Agriculture (COA), while the Conservation Division under the COA’s Forestry Bureau was established in 2005. The Animal Protection Section handles protection of livestock and pets, while the Conservation Division oversees wildlife conservation and habitat management.
In the area of legislation, the most important laws promulgated thus far have been 1989’s Wildlife Conservation Act and 1998’s Animal Protection Act. Since they entered into force, each has been amended eight times. Meanwhile, many regulations governing the protection of laboratory animals, livestock, pets and wildlife have been enacted accordingly.
A Taipei City Animal Protection Office staff member takes care of a rescued dog. (Photo courtesy of Taipei City Animal Protection Office)
Lin Tsung-yi (林宗毅), chief of the COA’s Animal Protection Section, says the government’s executive and legislative branches created the two acts in response to growing public concern over animal welfare. The acts cover animal abuse, experimentation and provision of shelter, and, in the case of livestock, regulate husbandry, slaughter and transportation. Local governments carry out the challenging task of effectively enforcing the laws and offenders are subject to fines or prison terms, he adds.
The Animal Protection Act requires cities, counties and special municipalities to set up animal sanctuaries or to commission nongovernmental organizations (NGO) to perform that work, a reflection of the third part of the government’s strategy: the establishment of private-public partnerships for animal welfare. Governments around the world have increasingly turned to such partnerships because they often operate with greater efficiency and cost effectiveness than government-run programs. Huang Ching-jung (黃慶榮), secretary-general of the Taipei City-based Animal Protection Association (APA), says his organization’s goal is to surpass public expectations by providing and effectively managing animal protection services. “Trust in NGOs comes from performance and accountability, which is why we endeavor to design and implement effective, financially transparent programs,” he says.
In 1960, the APA became the first animal welfare organization established in Taiwan. “We work to build a cooperative relationship with the government instead of confronting it or taking to the streets,” says Huang, who is also a member of the COA’s animal protection consultation task force. “We’re able to voice our opinions by participating in the government’s policymaking process, and we’ve been gratified to see that many of our suggestions have been put into practice.”
In fact, NGOs have been a major force behind the enactment of Taiwan’s animal welfare legislation. “Grassroots movements have contributed greatly to the establishment and improvement of legal frameworks for protecting animals from cruelty and upgrading the standards of animal welfare,” says Chang Chang-ter (張章得), vice chairman of the Life Conservationist Association (LCA), which was founded in Taipei City in 1993 and is dedicated to promoting animal welfare through educational campaigns, legislation and the organization of boycotts, demonstrations, petitions and press conferences. “The collective efforts of some 20 animal protection groups including ours, for instance, facilitated the passage of the Animal Protection Act, making Taiwan the 54th country in the world to implement such a law,” he says.
Enhancing Welfare
Prior to 2010, the TCAPO was known as the Taipei Municipal Institute for Animal Health. “Initially, we focused on quarantine and inspection for disease control [mostly among farm animals], but now we’re dedicated to enhancing animal welfare in general,” TCAPO Director Yen I-feng (嚴一峯) says. “We’ve established sections that handle animal adoption, management, protection, rescue and shelter, as well as one that monitors the pet industry and another that concentrates on wildlife conservation. We also collaborate with NGOs to implement related measures.”
The management of pets, Yen notes, has become one of his office’s primary tasks, and one of the thorniest problems confronting Taiwan’s animal welfare agencies and NGOs is that of strays. Such animals are a result of a percentage of new pet owners abandoning their charges after discovering that ownership involves significant effort and expense. The resulting ownerless populations of cats and dogs have raised concerns about environmental pollution, public safety and the transmission of diseases.
A veterinarian attends to a dog at the Taipei Animal Shelter. Adoption and educational campaigns helped the facility’s pet adoption rate hit a record high of 66 percent in 2013. (Photo courtesy of Taipei City Animal Protection Office)
To reduce the number of abandoned pets, in 1999 the COA started implementing a registration system in which a pet owner’s name is recorded on a microchip that is inserted under the animal’s skin. Shelters scan strays for microchips, while owners of unregistered pets can face fines of between NT$3,000 (US$100) and NT$15,000 (US$500). In rural areas, the TCAPO works with animal protection groups and veterinarians to provide microchip registration services.
There are currently 37 public shelters for stray animals around Taiwan. Public pounds are required by law to make an announcement—usually in the form of a posting on their website—regarding animals in their care. The law also allows for the euthanasia of strays that are not claimed or adopted after 12 days, but Lin says shelters with sufficient space grant most of the animals additional time.
In a recent innovation, the APA has begun operating its shelter in Bali District, New Taipei City as a social enterprise, which means that the facility endeavors to turn a profit, which is then reinvested in projects. Currently, 90 percent of the APA’s revenue comes from fundraising and programs, with the remaining 10 percent contributed by government-commissioned projects. While many local NGOs have seen donations dwindle in recent years due to Taiwan’s tepid economic climate, the APA saw revenues hit a new high of NT$41 million (US$1.4 million) in 2013, more than double the amount received in 2006.
The social enterprise’s “product” is the some 700 dogs housed at the Bali shelter. “We consider strays to be our assets, so we take good care of them. That’s enabled us to win public recognition and support,” Huang says. After the dogs are taken in, they are microchipped, neutered or spayed and given behavior training and vaccinations. Staff members give each one a photo identification card that records its physical characteristics, health condition and medical history, and all this data is stored in an electronic management system.
To generate more revenue and provide better care for its charges, the APA launched an initiative in 2003 that allows people to sponsor a canine at the Bali facility for NT$600 (US$20) per month. Sponsors can visit the dog at the shelter and take it out for a walk. Response to the program has been good, as more than 2,000 sponsorships currently support the 700 dogs in the shelter’s care.
Of course, not all shelters are as successful as the one the APA runs in Bali. Huang says that while private sanctuaries like his can set a limit on the number of strays they take in based on the size of the facility and number of workers, public shelters accept all animals turned over to their care, which sometimes results in overcrowding. Meanwhile, some city and county governments do not prioritize animal welfare, which means that funding can go toward building local bridges and roads rather than to improving conditions at substandard animal shelters.
TCAPO Director Yen I-feng, front center in blue shirt, attends a reunion party for adopted pets organized by the Taipei Animal Shelter in 2013. (Photo courtesy of Taipei City Animal Protection Office)
The good news on the stray front is that more people like Hsu are adopting. “More would-be pet owners are willing to forgo the allure of purchasing a kitten or puppy from a breeder or pet store in favor of adopting one from a rescue shelter,” Lin says. “The increase in adoptions has helped ease congestion in pounds and reduced the number of animals put to death.” Statistics compiled by the COA show that in 2013, Taiwan’s public shelters housed approximately 112,600 strays. The adoption rate for those animals reached 41 percent, a marked increase over the 14 percent adopted in 2009. Consequently, the euthanasia rate decreased from 73 percent in 2009 to 41 percent in 2013.
To facilitate pet adoptions, in March this year the COA launched a website (animal-adoption.coa.gov.tw) that provides a photo and information on the age, gender, hair color and size of each stray kept in public shelters. “With such convenient access to current information about shelter animals nationwide, members of the public can choose a pet anytime and anywhere, which should expedite the adoption process,” Lin says. In addition, Lin’s Animal Protection Section is working with animal rights groups, local governments and a public relations company to hold 150 adoption events this year across Taiwan.
Educational Campaigns
Yen says that to promote the idea of adopting rather than buying pet animals, the TCAPO has launched a variety of educational campaigns and services such as the Taipei Animal Shelter’s Taipei Animal Adoption app. The office has also leveraged the popularity of social media sites like Facebook to introduce strays to more potential adopters, especially young people who comprise the majority of Internet and smartphone users. Thanks to such efforts, the Taipei Animal Shelter’s adoption rate climbed to 66 percent in 2013, more than double the 32 percent rate of 2004.
In 2011, the APA launched a program that encourages farmers living in remote areas to provide a home for up to 10 dogs per farmstead from the Bali shelter. Each month, participants are entitled to receive a payment of NT$500 (US$17) per dog, a supply of dog food and access to a medical reserve fund. The association also helps the farmers market their produce on its website and Facebook page. Meanwhile, the animals can serve as security dogs to keep human thieves and visitors from the wild away from crops. So far, 10 farmers and about 180 dogs have participated in the program. Huang says he would like to see the central government promote such a scheme across Taiwan, as doing so would have a significant impact on the country’s stray dog problem.
The TCAPO is also finding creative ways to employ stray dogs. Apart from rescuing and sheltering strays, Yen’s office now tries to help them find “jobs.” Similar to the APA program, one of the jobs sees strays serving as watchdogs for factories, farms and orchards, while others include providing companionship for autistic children and the elderly and pulling duty as members of inspection and search and rescue teams. “There are several ways to resolve the issue [of strays],” Yen says. “We want to highlight their value and boost demand for their services. The response to this initiative has been good.” For instance, the office has been working with NGOs to train 200 to 300 stray dogs a year for the Coast Guard Administration’s maritime patrol units.
Taiwan’s 33 species listed as endangered and deserving of regulatory protection include grass owl and Formosan black bear. (Photo courtesy of Yao Zheng-de and Ke Chun-hua)
While Taiwan’s animal welfare agencies and groups are paying more attention to pet management than ever before, the government also remains focused on conserving wildlife and protecting species diversity. Kuan Li-hao (管立豪), director of the Conservation Division at the Forestry Bureau, notes that this year marks the 25th anniversary of the promulgation of the ROC’s Wildlife Conservation Act. During the quarter-century that the act has been enforced, amendments have been approved that impose stricter regulatory controls on hunting as well as imports and exports, public display and utilization of wildlife-based products.
One of the most important effects of the Wildlife Conservation Act has been the implementation of various wildlife habitat protection and management measures. In Taiwan, 33 species are currently listed as endangered, 104 as rare and valuable, and 48 as deserving conservation. Myriad biological surveys and research projects targeting these sensitive species have been conducted and the results are frequently referred to in the policymaking process. The Forestry Bureau, for example, has relied on research data to designate 84 protected areas, including 19 wildlife refuges and 37 major wildlife habitats in which development projects and industrial activities are strictly controlled.
Since 2006, the COA has contributed to the international community by sponsoring overseas wildlife conservation, education and research programs in some 30 countries. Kuan notes, however, that Taiwan’s lack of membership in the United Nations means that the country is unable to participate in the organization’s conferences on wildlife conservation in an official capacity. As ROC officials cannot attend such meetings, the government must ask academics or NGO representatives to attend in order to collect the latest information.
At the same time, stabilized or increased local populations of threatened and rare species such as the black-faced spoonbill, Chinese crested tern, Formosan black bear, landlocked salmon and sambar deer provide evidence that conservation measures are having a positive impact. Preserving the food chains and protecting the habitats of the endangered Chinese white dolphin, grass owl and leopard cat are also central to these efforts, Kuan says.
Meanwhile, the Forestry Bureau has commissioned a number of institutions to establish medical assistance stations and shelters for injured or abandoned wildlife. The Taiwan Cetacean Stranding Network, which became the first organization of its kind in Asia when it was formed in 1996, for example, has thus far taken care of 1,105 stranded dolphins and whales.
The Penghu Marine Biology Research Center in the outlying Penghu Islands releases rehabilitated green sea turtles into the sea in May 2013. (Photo courtesy of Forestry Bureau)
To crack down on trade in illegal wildlife products, the bureau has set up three product identification laboratories and created a virtual identification center at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology in southern Taiwan. Customs authorities and local governments use a web portal to submit photos and videos of suspect products to the virtual center, which provides quick responses that boost investigation efficiency and seizures of illegal goods.
Kuan acknowledges that several NGOs have done a better job than the public sector in the areas of wildlife education and publicity campaigns and says that his bureau has forged active and long-term partnerships with several of them. LCA efforts, for example, succeeded in convincing the government to impose bans that have prohibited circuses from importing or exporting protected wildlife since 2007, barred fishing for whale sharks since 2008 and prevented the manufacturing and sale of animal traps since 2011. In 2013, the government also put an end to the slaughter of live poultry in traditional markets.
Taiwan has made great strides in animal welfare since the passage of the Wildlife Conservation Act and Animal Protection Act, but more work remains to be done. Chang and Huang, for example, urge the central and local governments to increase budgets and labor for animal welfare services, improve cooperation with animal protection NGOs and provide such groups with greater support in the areas of funding, land acquisition for animal shelters and management.
Chang’s LCA would also like to see Taiwan prohibit animal testing. To bring that about, the association is currently working with the UK-based International Network for Humane Education (InterNICHE) to replace animal experiments in biology and medical education by encouraging teachers to use alternatives like models, pictures and videos. Meanwhile, the LCA is collaborating with the UK’s Cruelty Free International to promote legislation that would halt the testing of cosmetics on animals in Taiwan. Chang says the European Union banned all sales of cosmetics developed through animal testing in March 2013 and hopes that Taiwan will soon pass a similar law.
“As a pioneer in animal advocacy, we’ve been happy to see continuous improvement in the state of animal welfare in Taiwan in the areas of legal systems, government policies and practices, and public awareness and action,” the APA’s Huang says. “More significantly, we’ve got about 110 local animal protection groups working toward a common goal—creating a society where humans and animals live in harmony. Closer public-private partnerships and stronger public support for animal protection make us hopeful about achieving that vision.”
The Taipei Zoo’s pandas like Yuanzai, seen at the age of seven months, are more than just tourist attractions. These thriving animals reflect the institution’s growing role in global wildlife conservation. (Photo courtesy of Taipei Zoo)
Creating an Animal Archive
In addition to serving as one of the top tourist sites in Taipei City, the Taipei Zoo plays a major role in conserving wildlife. One of the most talked about examples of the zoo’s conservation work is its effort to ensure the survival of the Formosan sika deer, an endemic subspecies. Eric Tsao (曹先紹) is the zoo’s spokesman and an expert in freshwater fish and wildlife conservation. According to Tsao, after the subspecies was declared extinct in the wild in the late 1960s, conservationists placed their hopes in the Taipei Zoo’s ability to prevent the deer from disappearing completely in Taiwan. By 1986 the Taipei Zoo had reared enough Formosan sika to give 22 to Kenting National Park, where the deer started to breed in captivity. Eight years later their offspring were released in the wild for the first time and the number of wild deer in the park has reached between 1,500 and 2,000 today.
A comparatively recent conservation effort has seen the zoo successfully breed and raise pangolins, an anteater found in tropical regions of Asia and Africa. According to zoo director and pangolin expert Chin Shih-chien (金仕謙), the mammal is severely threatened by habitat loss due to deforestation, illegal trade and poaching. Given such threats, numerous efforts have been made to rear the animal in captivity. “Many zoos around the world have tried to breed and rear pangolins, but they all failed in the end. We’re proud that the Taipei Zoo is the only one to have done so successfully,” Chin says of the highly challenging task of raising the animals to adulthood. Since 1997, seven pangolins have been born at the Taipei Zoo, although not all have survived. The zoo is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and features the pangolin on its centennial logo.
The Taipei Zoo’s wildlife conservation role has grown in importance as it receives animals from international partners. Among those guests that now call Taiwan home, koalas and giant pandas have found the greatest popularity with visitors. “Animal exchanges are more than a show of friendship between the donor and the recipient; they serve a higher purpose,” Tsao says. Koalas, for example, made their first appearance at the zoo in 1999. “Australia was originally quite strict about exporting the species, but several big fires in recent years have threatened the koala’s habitat. That has awakened Australians to the need to protect the animals by moving some of them abroad, which diversifies the risk,” he says. The Taipei Zoo’s 15 koalas, including nine born in Taipei, comprise a satellite population that could contribute to conservation efforts should habitat loss or disease further threaten those in Australia.
The Taipei Zoo has succeeded where all others have failed at raising and breeding pangolins, a species native to Taiwan, in captivity. (Photo by Chen Mei-ling)
In a similar case, the Taipei Zoo received a pair of giant pandas from mainland China in December 2008. The cuddly animals became stars at the Taipei Zoo soon after they were flown in, and the birth of their cub Yuanzai in 2013 sparked another panda craze in Taiwan. Meanwhile, the zoo’s wildlife biologists take pride in having established a satellite panda population that could one day supplement and support the panda population in mainland China.
The Taipei Zoo and its international counterparts also exchange animals periodically because mating between populations improves the gene pool. “Inbreeding is unfavorable to a species’ development, so researchers need to find out which individuals from different groups should be singled out and paired together to contribute to greater genetic diversity,” Tsao explains.
“The Taipei Zoo is celebrating its 100th birthday this year,” he says. “We should now consider taking the next step and get involved more deeply in global conservation efforts.”
—Oscar Chung
Write to Kelly Her at kher@mofa.gov.tw
Write to Oscar Chung at mhchung@mofa.gov.tw