INTRODUCTION
In November and December of 1998, I spent a month in Taiwan and visited the government-operated dog pounds in and around the Taipei area.
I have worked as a volunteer at animal shelters operated by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in England, and I am familiar with the plight of stray and unwanted animals. Through my experience, I have learned what minimal level of care is needed to make dogs in shelters as comfortable as possible.
I had been advised prior to my trip that the living conditions in Taiwanese pounds were not good, but nothing could have prepared me for the shocking degree of neglect found in these facilities; in fact, it is difficult to believe that such an appalling state of affairs can exist in the modern world.
GENERAL CONDITIONS
The conditions at every pound I visited failed to meet even minimal standards for cleanliness and animal care. The buildings, sanitation, attitudes of staff, and treatment of the dogs were, without exception, dreadful. The dogs have no physical comfort, no relief from the stress of overcrowded conditions, and no protection against harassment from other dogs. Injuries and illness go untreated. In many pounds, dogs are not even provided with food and clean water on a regular basis.
For anyone with even the slightest compassion toward animals, it is difficult to comprehend how pound managers and staff can tolerate such squalid conditions and do nothing about them.
PREMISES
With the exception of the new pounds at Taoyuan, all pounds are located near garbage dumps. These breeding grounds for disease and infection are not conducive to the proper care of sick and injured animals. Trash is blown onto pound premises, and sludge and waste carried by rainwater make ideal breeding conditions for flies in humid weather. A rank, foul odor greets visitors and would certainly discourage members of the public from adopting homeless dogs, should such a program be implemented.
The buildings are little more than heaps of tin and wire. Rusting and full of holes, they provide little protection from wet weather and no protection from the cold. The concrete flooring is marbled with cracks in which dirt and feces have collected and is virtually impossible to clean, were it ever to be attempted. The pens are stone-floored with metal bars or wire caging that is matted with dirt, animal hair, and feces. It is apparent that none of the cages are regularly cleaned and sterilized and have deteriorated to such an extent that it would be impossible to sanitize them properly.
None of the pounds were suitable for housing large numbers of animals, yet 10 to 30 dogs are crammed into the pens at any given time. Consequently, the dogs have little or no space and must compete even for a place to lie down and sleep. The pounds at Yin Ko and Pa The contained banks of wire cages with metal-barred floors. As many as six to eight dogs were crowded into each cage without any bedding or resting boards. Many dogs’ nails were overgrown and the pads of their feet were raw. At the San Hsia pound, four puppies were kept in a cage measuring just 18 inches by 18 inches by 15 inches. They stood and slept on the wire mesh without even a rubber mat for relief.
SANITATION
Pound managers were given no advance notice of my first visits, and although they knew that I would be returning several times during the next month, they did not know on which days my subsequent visits would occur. Therefore, no additional cleaning was done for my benefit.
On many occasions, when I arrived at midday, the pens had not been cleaned and were filthy and foul-smelling. The dogs were standing or lying in their own waste. If cleaning had been attempted, it consisted of directing a spray of water into the pen to lift the feces from the floor. This spread the waste over the entire pen, including the bars and walls, thus rendering the pens even less sanitary. The pens were then left wet, and as there was no place for the dogs to go during the "cleaning," they had to stand or lie on the wet surfaces. At the Taoyuan and Sanchung pounds, I saw pound workers direct water at the dogs to make them move away from the area being cleaned. This terrified the dogs and left them soaking wet. Workers made no attempt to remove standing water left in the pens.
I saw no cleaning or sterilizing solutions used at any of the pounds. I saw no one attempt to remove the feces or matted hair stuck in the wire mesh. The fungus that grew over this filth made it obvious that the wire had not been cleaned for quite some time.
The drains at the Shi Tze, Keelung, and Pa The pounds were clogged with waste, and the filthy water had backed up into the pens. This attracted flies and posed a risk of disease and infection.
Food and water bowls were rarely used, but where they were in place, I do not think it ever occurred to the workers to empty out uneaten food and dirty water and then wash and sterilize them. Many bowls were pitted and filthy and contained moldy and fungus-covered food and black water. They were beyond being sanitized.
I was told that the workers have been shown the proper procedure for sanitizing dog pens, but they appeared unable or unwilling to carry out even the simplest of cleaning procedures.
CARE AND CONDITION OF DOGS
At every pound I visited, the condition of the dogs was very poor. Many showed signs of injury, illness, and inadequate feeding.
Overcrowding causes many of the problems. There is so little space that the dogs must compete with each other simply to find a place to lie down. This lack of territorial boundaries leads to fighting, and the sick and weak are particularly vulnerable. On my first visit to the Keelung pound, I saw a small terrier attacked by two larger dogs. His left ear was torn off and he sustained several deep and bloody wounds. The pound workers stood by and watched as if it were a sporting event and made no attempt to separate the dogs. When I went into the pen to rescue the terrier, they simply looked at me as if I were mad. It took me several minutes to persuade them to call a veterinarian to see to the dog’s wounds.
It appeared that such fighting is a normal occurrence. Many dogs had bite wounds that had clearly not been treated and had become infected.
None of the pounds provided resting boards, beds, or bedding, so the dogs had no relief from the concrete or wire floors and no protection from the cold and damp. Dogs at the Shen Ken and Yin Ko pounds had to stand continually on the bars of their small cages. It was obvious from their muscle wastage and overgrown nails that they were not allowed out of the cages for any form of exercise.
Overcrowded conditions also lead to the spread of disease. Mange was rampant in all the pounds. Since it is clearly left untreated, it spreads from one animal to another with alarming speed. Of the approximately 800 dogs I saw, 90 percent showed signs of mange. Of these, 30 percent had such severe cases that euthanasia would have been the kindest option. There appeared to be no procedure for reviewing the condition of the dogs on a regular basis or for obtaining veterinary treatment. Even when I identified an animal in serious need of treatment, the workers were unwilling to call a veterinarian.
With the exception of Pa The, where fresh water had been put into the dog pens prior to two of my three visits, the workers did not provide clean water on a regular basis. On many occasions, no water was available to the dogs, and at San Chung and Taoyuan, the dogs drank from standing water that was mixed with feces and urine sprayed around the pen during cleaning.
Food was provided more as an afterthought than as part of the daily routine. In the few pounds where food bowls were used, the fresh food was simply poured on top of uneaten food, which was often wet and covered with fungus. Usually dry food was emptied from a bag onto the floor where it mixed with the feces, urine, and filth. The overcrowded conditions in most of the pounds led to fighting over food. Injured or ill dogs are eventually unable to compete for food until they finally collapse and die, often suffering great pain.
STAFF
Although I was informed that training is available and had been provided for pound workers, the staff clearly did not understand what is needed to fulfill the requirements of the job.
At every pound, workers appeared to be afraid of the dogs and unwilling to handle them out of a fear of being bitten or contracting disease. Without basic handling skills, it is impossible for workers to provide proper care for the animals. Workers afraid of entering the pens cannot clean and sanitize properly. As already mentioned, standing at the door of a pen and spraying water at the feces only spreads the filth around and leaves the dogs in a wet and filthy environment.
In order to place fresh food and water in the pens (which is by no means a regular practice), one worker shouts and waves a club or metal bar at the dogs, while another worker puts the food on the floor. This terrifies the dogs, and when they are handled by the workers, they often bite out of fear. Several workers at the Sanchung, San Hsia, and Shii Tze pounds had bite wounds resulting from mishandling.
None of the workers seemed to have any idea how to handle a dog in a gentle, caring manner. When they needed to remove a dog from a cage or pen, they threw a net over the animal or placed a wire loop around the dog’s neck and swung the choking dog off the ground. At none of the pounds was a lead or control pole available, yet nearly all of the dogs could be approached and walked on a lead if the workers had taken the time to do so.
With the exception of the staff at the Pa The pound, the workers seemed to view the dogs as inconveniences rather than living beings. At every pound on every visit I made, I saw sick and injured dogs left to suffer in their pens without veterinary care. Often the staff seemed unaware that the dogs were ill or injured and had no interest in carrying out daily health checks.
CONCLUSIONS AND SOLUTIONS
In view of what I saw, there has been no improvement in the care and conditions at the dog pounds in Taiwan. The whole system must be radically changed to bring it into line with internationally recognized standards for the operation of dog pounds.
The pounds are unsuitable and ill-equipped to care for animals, and in some cases, the buildings should be condemned as health hazards to both the dogs and the public. New purpose-built dogs pounds are needed before any progress can be made in sanitation. New pounds should have smaller kennels that house only two dogs each. This would allow dogs to establish territories and provide protection from harassment by other dogs.
The current staffs are unsuited to their jobs, and it would appear that no amount of training will solve this problem. Unless workers can overcome their fear of the dogs, they will not be able to handle them in a caring and compassionate manner. Therefore, new staffs with appropriate training and competence in cleaning and caring for animals need to be recruited.
Daily procedures need to be introduced and carried out to ensure that the pound is kept clean and that each dog is provided with adequate food and water every day. A review of the dogs’ general condition needs to be conducted daily and veterinary care provided as soon as it is required. When necessary, euthanasia should be carried out in a humane manner using sodium pentobarbital by properly qualified staff.
Procedures to review the suitability of incoming dogs for adoption must be implemented. Dogs who cannot be placed due to illness, injury, age, or aggression should be euthanized immediately and not placed in the pound with the rest of the dogs, where they can spread disease or fight.
It would appear that the Taiwanese government is unable or unwilling to make sufficient funds available for the proper care of the dogs and operation of the pounds. If this is the case, operation of the pounds should be appointed to an outside body with the experience and compassion needed to provide for the animals. A new organization, set up by worldwide animal protection societies, should be established to operate the dog pounds. Funding could be raised initially by donations or loans from animal protection groups until the new organization is fully established and able to raise its own funds from private sources and events. This would save the government a considerable sum of money and release it from the burden of caring for the dogs. In exchange for this, suitable sites could be provided by the government for new dog pounds.
