Letter: Taiwan strives to stop stray dog overpopulation

Wednesday, Feb. 18, 1998 | 9:49 a.m.

This is not to say that our government does not care about this issue, since it spends about a million dollars annually on the adoption, care, neutering and the humane euthanasia of stray dogs, as well as educating people on the proper care of their pets. Although we were remiss in not having a comprehensive system to oversee the local governments that directly handled stray dogs, I am glad to say that this is no longer the case.

About three years ago, the Life Conservationist Association of the ROC, in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Taipei Yenping and other organizations, invited the World Society for the Protection of Animals to a seminar discussing the control, protection and care of stray animals. This session led to government legislations on the protection of strays as well as a reduction in the numbers of wild strays through neutering.

Our government is aggressively dealing with this problem by re-educating the local administrators and dog catchers on the proper handling and care of strays. These efforts have not only involved government workers, but also the general public. In fact, a videotape, "Man's Best Friend," was especially shot to educate Taiwan's citizens on the proper care of dogs.

Although we cannot claim to have established all the systems of the West, we are trying hard to get there.

Amy S.C. Liu, director, information division, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco