The Council of Agriculture (COA) and opposition party lawmakers are proposing amending Taiwan's laws to increase the penalties for animal smugglers, after 154 smuggled cats were recently put down by the authorities.
At a virtual press conference on Wednesday, Legislator Jang Chyi-lu (???) of the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) said his party will draft an amendment to impose longer prison sentences and larger fines on animal smugglers as part of the efforts to deter such behavior.
Although Jang did not reveal details of his party's plan, he said the draft amendment to the Smuggling Penalty Act will be introduced for review in the next legislative session, which begins in September.
In the decade prior to June, 1,891 smuggled animals, including birds, dogs and cats have been put down by Taiwanese authorities, Jang said, citing data from the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine (BAPHIQ).
His comments came after animal quarantine officers in Kaohsiung euthanized 154 cats suspected of being smuggled into the country from China by a fishing vessel last week in order to prevent the importation of infectious diseases.
In a statement on Monday, prosecutors said the captain of the boat, a man surnamed Lin (?), has been released on bail and they do not rule out the possibility of a link to organized crime.
Commenting on the smuggled cats on Sunday, Chen Chi-chung (???), head of the Cabinet-level COA under which the BAPHIQ falls, said euthanizing the cats was a difficult decision to make but a necessary one.
Even after going through the quarantine process, the smuggled cats could still carry diseases due to the long latency period of viruses, Chen said.
They could pose a significant threat to the health of pets, including 1.5 million dogs and 700,000 cats, as well as economic animals in Taiwan, Chen added.
While defending existing legislation which mandates the mercy killing of smuggled animals, Chen proposed amending other laws that could curb animal smuggling.
The COA will work with the Ministry of Justice to draft an amendment to the Smuggling Penalty Act that would raise the maximum prison sentence for smugglers to above the current seven years, Chen said.
In addition, the COA is planning to impose a fixed fine of NT$3 million (US$107,142) on unlicensed animal vendors and those who sell animals from unknown sources, he added.
Currently, individuals who sell animals without a government permit or from unknown sources are subject to a fine ranging from NT$100,000 to NT$3 million, according to the Animal Protection Act.
Meanwhile, the TPP also called on the government to establish a specialized animal protection police division under the National Policy Agency to better respond to animal cruelty cases.
From 2018 to 2020, law enforcement agencies and animal protection offices in Taiwan received reports of 6,462 animal cruelty cases, but individuals were only punished in 161 of those cases, according to TPP legislator Kao Hung-an (???). Tsai Pi-ru (???), another lawmaker from the party, noted that there are insufficient local government animal protection officers to investigate all animal cruelty cases, resulting in many of the cases being improperly handled.
The formation of a new police division will allow specialized officers to more effectively investigate and intervene in animal cruelty cases, as well as enforce the laws pertaining to animal protection, Kao said.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the opposition Kuomintang Johnny Chiang (???) said last week that the ruling Democratic Progressive Party government should have taken action to amend the law instead of waiting until the cats were put down.
The government should come up with "best solutions" that protect innocent animals while preventing animal smuggling and the entry of infectious diseases carried by smuggled animals, he added.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel