August 2002
Click here to read PETA’s letter to the president of the Republic of China.
July 2002
 Taiwan activists collect 140,000 signatures demanding that authorities crack down on shelters and implement the Animal Protection Law. The International Alliance for Taiwan Abandoned Dogs submits court documents charging shelters with “wire capture,” corruption, embezzlement, and fraud. Click here to read.
According to a report published by the Life Conservationist Association in December 2001, most dog pounds are still located at garbage dump sites or in remote areas, inaccessible to the public both for adopting dogs and monitoring their conditions. Out of the 48 dog pounds that LCA visited, only eight shelters were considered humane environments. Click here for an action alert to help dogs in Taiwan!
June 2002
An official response: “The incident is a single case …”
Click here to read this letter.
March 2002
Citing atrocious examples from the shelter in Hualien, Taiwanese activists petition the court on March 26 demanding that the government investigate conditions at the shelter and enforce the Animal Protection Law.
February 2002
 Activists from several animal rights organizations in Taiwan inspected Hualien dog pound on February 8, 10, and 14 and found that the dogs were in such a wretched state of hunger that they had resorted to cannibalism. No food or water had been provided to them. When the footage taken by these activists hit the media, two pound workers were fired. However, unless widespread changes are made in the shelter facilities, care and feeding of the dogs, and basic handling skills of the shelter staff, homeless dogs in Taiwan will continue to suffer needlessly.
Click on the image above to view footage recently shot at pounds in Taiwan.
(RealPlayer required).
November 1999
On November 17, a 10-page report documenting appalling conditions for dogs in Taiwan's pounds was hand-delivered to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Offices and released to the public in London, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco.
Click here to read PETA's report.
March 1999
On March 17, 1999, PETA distributed a report written by Andrew Sutton, a British independent animal welfare advisor, to the president and to the premier of Taiwan, as well as to the vice chairperson of the Council of Agriculture and to Taiwanese and international animal protection organizations. Mr. Sutton’s report, based on multiple unannounced visits to several Taiwanese pounds in November and December of 1998, showed continued problems in all of the pounds. Dogs continued to suffer from tremendous overcrowding, untreated disease, filthy living conditions, lack of food and water, and rough handling by untrained workers. These conditions and the treatment of the dogs are clear violations of the new animal protection law.
Click here to view this report.
 Many celebrities have sent letters to the Legislative Yuan supporting the animal protection bill. We are extremely grateful to them for using their voices to speak for the dogs who cannot speak for themselves. Many were featured in an ad, still others have written personal letters, including: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Steven Seagal, Jackie Chan, Wolfgang Petersen, Olivia Newton-John, and Rue McLanahan.
In the short time since the ad ran, other celebrities, including Richard Donner, Luciano Pavarotti, Thomas Gibson (TV's "Greg" from Dharma & Greg), Alicia Witt, Tim Curry, Bea Arthur, Anthony Michael Hall, DeDee Pfieffer-Fein, and Jorge Rivero, have all added their names in those asking for the Legislative Yuan's passage of the animal protection bill.
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A typical Taiwanese dog pound where countless dogs are crammed together. Such overcrowding leads to disease and injuries from fighting. Sick animals are left untreated, and dead animals are often left to rot in cages with live animals. |
| Street dogs in Taiwan sometimes die slowly and painfully from having sulfuric acid thrown on them. Some are strangled to death for meat or out of spite. |
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This footage was shot in August 1998. (Warning: Some parts of this video may be disturbing to younger viewers).
RealPlayer required
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September 9, 1998: Dogs, Owners to Hold "Bark In" in Nine Countries
August 31, 1998: Steven Seagal Rallies A-List Behind Landmark Dog Protection Law
August 24, 1998: Dalai Lama Urges Taiwan to Pass Animal Protection Law
May 1, 1998: Violinist Cho-Lian Lin Appealed for the Passage of Taiwan's First Anti-Cruelty Law
Protests were held in Washington, New York, San Francisco, Atlanta, Los Angeles, London, Hamburg, Paris, Australia, Ottawa, Canada, Honolulu, Houston, Miami, Boston, Kansas City, Salt Lake City, Santa Fe, Seattle, and Chicago.
Following the above demonstrations, PETA issued a letter to Taiwan's premier (click here).
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