Conservation groups call for gov't plan to reduce stray dog population

Taipei, April 29 (CNA) A coalition of wildlife conservation groups gathered at the Legislative Yuan on Wednesday, urging lawmakers to freeze the budget of the Ministry of Agriculture's (MOA) Animal Welfare Department until it presents a plan to reduce Taiwan's stray dog population.

Speaking at a press conference, Lee Tsung-chen (李宗宸), head of Taiwan Walk for Wildlife, said the government's "trap-neuter-release" approach to stray dog management had failed, at great social cost to the Taiwanese public.

While there is no data focusing specifically on stray dogs, traffic accidents involving animals have caused 42 deaths and 14,030 injuries over the past five years, Lee said.

Moreover, the Transportation Research Institute estimates that the total social costs associated with stray or free-roaming animals are over NT$3.64 billion (US$115.18 million), he said.

"Social cost" is a broad term that includes both the private and external costs of an activity.

Cheng Hsien-tsan (鄭憲燦), a board member at the Leopard Cat Association of Taiwan, said Changhua County is currently the only municipality in Taiwan that records data on agricultural losses caused by stray dogs.

However, using Changhua's data to project nationwide statistics, it is estimated that there are over 550 cases of stray dogs breaking into livestock enclosures per year, causing at least NT$30 million in financial losses, Cheng said.

The groups urged the MOA to begin collecting data on agricultural losses and traffic accidents caused by stray dogs, and to amend the Animal Protection Act so that people who feed stray dogs over the long term would be legally recognized as their owners.

The Legislature should also freeze funding for the MOA's Department of Animal Welfare until it puts forward a detailed plan to reduce the stray dog population, the groups said.

Aside from the conservation-related issues raised by the groups, there have also been several high-profile instances of stray dogs attacking people, including a case last year in which a Kaohsiung man died after being attacked by strays while swimming.

Critics have also cited Taiwan's move in 2017 to ban euthanizing stray animals in public shelters, and to focus instead on trap-neuter-release efforts, as a driver of the problem.

Government response

Asked about the criticisms, Department of Animal Welfare director Chiang Wen-chuan (江文全) told CNA that while feeding stray dogs is "inappropriate," in some cases it is being done as part of a "transitional approach" to get them sterilized.

According to MOA statistics, Taiwan's estimated stray dog population fell by 11.34 percent from 2022 to 2024, from 159,697 to 141,584, Chiang said.

While not offering his view on the proposed legal changes, Chiang said that under current laws, courts have only recognized people as legally responsible for stray dogs if they had fed them regularly at a fixed location.

The key to controlling the stray dog population is cutting the problem off at its source, by making sure dog owners don't abandon their pets, don't allow them to roam freely, and get them neutered or spayed, Chiang said.