Taxi driver arrested after deserted pet cats found brutally killed

New Taipei, Feb. 28 (CNA) A taxi driver was arrested by police in New Taipei after the pet cats he deserted in Banqiao District were found to be killed with brute force, the New Taipei City Police Department's Haishan Precinct said Friday.

The taxi driver, a man surnamed Hsieh (謝), was arrested in the city's Zhonghe District on Friday afternoon, after investigators combed through surveillance video footage collected near a location in Banqiao a day earlier, according to the police.

Hsieh, who still has some kittens at his home, admitted to abandoning the cats because of a lack of income and pressure from his family, but he insisted that the cats were alive when he left them behind, the police said.

Yang Shu-fang (楊淑方), head of the New Taipei City Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office, told CNA Friday that an autopsy of the seven dead cats showed they had broken ribs and scalps, as well as puncture wounds in their organs.

Those findings indicated that the cats were likely killed by outside forces, Yang said.

Noting that there are many stray dogs in the area where the dead cats were found, the police said they plan to clarify whether the cats died from attacks by the strays before handing the investigation over to prosecutors.

Hsieh, however, committed other offenses for which he will be fined, Yang said.

The office found a total of 11 adult cats and five kittens at Hsieh's home, and none of them had microchips installed or been vaccinated against rabies, violating the Animal Protection Act and the Act on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Diseases, respectively, Yang said.

Yang said the office will also investigate if the taxi driver was involved in breeding the animals illegally.