To President Chen Shui-Bian and the National Assembly of Taiwan:
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is an international organization with more than 700,000 members dedicated to the protection of animals. We are writing concerning the appalling conditions of Taiwan’s dog pounds, which have been in the international spotlight for years now. Dogs in many pounds continue to suffer severe abuses, including dehydration, overcrowding, filthy living conditions, malnutrition, and rough handling by untrained workers. Under these severe circumstances, dogs have even resorted to cannibalism, as ample video footage and eyewitness reports prove.
In 1998, Taiwan passed a groundbreaking animal protection law, and the brutal conditions detailed above clearly violate this law. Yet, despite Taiwan’s many assurances, the abuses persist. Video footage from February 2002 shows the same horrifying abuses.
Your government has taken the position that these abuses were an isolated case, exclusive to the Hualien dog pound at which the videotape was shot, and that management changes at Hualien and the firing of the pound workers who were visibly involved in the worst abuses there has resolved the matter. This is assuredly not the case. As of December 2001, the Life Conservation Association reported that in visits to 48 Taiwan dog pounds, only eight can be considered humane environments.
We are aware of reports of corrupt local officials in charge of shelters who are said to routinely steal funds intended for the care of the dogs and are not fired or prosecuted. Most dog pounds are located at dump sites or in remote areas, rendering them both inaccessible to the public wishing to adopt dogs and difficult to monitor. These fundamental problems must be addressed and eliminated before enforcement of the Animal Protection Law can be undertaken in any meaningful way.
We urge you to confront this pressing issue immediately. Please inform us of the specific steps that the government will take to enforce the law and make its dog pounds safe and humane. We will relay this information to our members, the media, and the public.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.
