Taipei City Government

During a press event on April 21, Mayor Ko Wen-je voiced his support for 10 animal-friendly policies introduced by the City.

The measures include strengthening source management at the level of pet shops, implementing stricter punishment for pet abandonment, enforcing pet sterilization, establishing dog/cat training schools, increasing animal-friendly facilities and spaces, recruiting voluntary animal control officers, catching stray animals humanely, implementing location-specific cleansing and feeding system for stray dogs, conducting TNVR (Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, Return) programs for street dogs, and encouraging the set-up of private animal shelters.

Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, Ko remarked that he agrees with the Indian leader that “the greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” The City’s initiative to further protect animals marks a step forward in the building of a truly civilized society. For the mayor, the new policies are also fulfilling his election promises.

Ko pledges that the majority of the new animal-friendly policies will be implemented by the end of this year, with the exception of the installation of animal-friendly facilities in local parks and the establishment of a dog park, which will not be open to the public until May of 2016. He hopes that the execution of the aforementioned policies will propel Taipei in the direction of becoming an animal-friendly metropolis.

For a detailed listing of the 10 animal-friendly policies, please click on the link: http://www-ws.gov.taipei/001/Upload/public/Attachment/54211622186.pdf (Chinese)