Animal rights groups urge action on 10 key issues in Taiwan

Taipei, March. 11 (CNA) Eight animal rights groups on Tuesday called on the government to take action on 10 major animal welfare issues in Taiwan, including banning wild boar snares and pigeon racing on the high seas.

"These 10 issues largely do not require new legislation or amendments and can be addressed through administrative orders alone," said Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳), secretary-general of the Taiwan Animal Protection Monitor Network, at a press conference in Taipei.

Ho added that the event was held because the government's actions have remained "extremely limited" despite years of advocacy from animal rights groups for better animal welfare policies and their enforcement.

Among the 10 key issues listed by the eight groups, banning wild boar snares -- formally known as compression spring snare traps, which tighten around an animal's limb with great force when triggered -- was the central focus at the event.

Jerry Ko (柯元傑), convener of the network's anti-metal traps group, said that the Central Election Commission (CEC) rejected the group's proposal last year for a referendum on a complete ban of wild boar snares, citing concerns that it would impact the indigenous people's hunting rights and the needs of farmers in preventing crop damage caused by wild animals.

"The wild boar snare is a hunting tool that was introduced from Japan in the past decade ... It is not a traditional hunting tool that Indigenous people have used for hundreds or thousands of years," Ko said, questioning the legitimacy of the CEC's rejection.

Ko said there are other alternatives for preventing crop damage by wild animals, citing the use of electric fences in Japan, which he described as a "humane way to coexist with wildlife."

Showing images of animals severely injured by wild boar snares, he said that despite authorities promoting an improved wild boar snare over the past five years, the number of protected species killed has not decreased.

Six Formosan black bears and five leopard cats have died after falling victim to the device, Ko said.

Mars Chen (陳彥騰), a member of the Taiwan Bird Rescue Association, said that the CEC also rejected their proposal for a referendum to ban pigeon racing on the high seas, calling the commission's reasoning "evasive" and "unconvincing."

The CEC rejected their proposal in part because of its claim that "the true intent of the proposal cannot be understood from the content of the proposal," as stipulated in the Referendum Act, according to a CEC letter sent to the association.

"Under decades of neglect by administrative agencies, millions -- perhaps tens of millions -- of racing pigeons have perished at sea," said Chen, adding that pigeon racing on the high seas has a survival rate of just 1 to 2 percent.

Apart from the two bans, the groups also called for action on eight other issues, including strengthening regulations on animal performance, ending the chaining and caging of dogs, and regulating the breeding and sale of pets other than dogs and cats.