Still plenty of dogshit in Kaohsiung

EPA stepping up its war on dog owners over droppings in streets

As many as 328 dog owners throughout Taiwan were fined NT$1,200 to NT$6,000 in May and June for failing to clean up the droppings left by their pets on the streets. The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) plans tougher action on irresponsible pet owners.

According to the tallies released by the EPA, 241 tickets were issued to dog owners in Taipei City during the two-month period, followed by 62 cases in Taipei County, seven in Keelung, five in Pingtung County, and four in Hsinchu City...

EPA officials conceded that no dog owners were fined in some counties and cities mainly because the offenders must be caught at the scene

Local EP officials' choice of taking a more lenient approach as another major factor that they gave out 1,997 admonitions to pet owners instead of issuing directly the tickets for a fine.

For example, 831 admonitions were given in Tainan City in south Taiwan, compared with only 28 in Taipei. In Puli, 19 dog owners received admonitions but no fines.

In fact, Kaohsiung isn't even mentioned in the article. Nor does it mention stray dogs, which are numerous in Kaohsiung, and responsible for plenty of shit.

Which brings us to a funny story: I used to like to buy xiaolongbao 小籠包 from a little truck that sells them on the corner in the mornings...until early one morning on my way to the swimming pool I saw the guy who makes them by hand drive up in his truck, get out, and proceed to pet the stray dogs that hang around his truck. Mmm...xiaolongbao with dog hair.

It's not just stray dogs. Consider the foolishness of this proposal: Activists urge government to neuter and release cats

Animal rights activists yesterday urged the public to adopt cats instead of buying them and called on the government to neuter feral felines, instead of capturing and killing them.

Su Sheng-chieh (蘇聖傑)...said that the government's method of capturing stray animals had not been effective in cutting back on the number of strays...

[A web site of his] has recently been promoting the Feral Cats Trap-Neuter-Release or Return (TNR) program, a method used overseas to control stray cat populations.

According to the program, stray cats are trapped and then neutered at veterinary clinics, Su said.

The cats are then marked and released where they were found, Su said.

By only capturing and destroying cats, the government is not dealing with the root cause of the problem, because cats that elude catchers continue to breed, Su added...

As to whether the cats that were released would cause further problems, Su said it would not be an issue.

"Ecologically speaking, there's a balance in nature. If no stray cats were around then people would have more mice and cockroach problems," Su said...

Internationally, however, the TNR program is still controversial.

A number of wildlife and bird advocacy organizations reportedly argued that TNR allows feral cats to prey on wildlife, which may threaten endangered species.

"By only capturing and destroying cats, the government is not dealing with the root cause of the problem, because cats that elude catchers continue to breed." Huh? Same thing if they capture them to neuter them! Presumably they'll miss just as many.

But maybe he's right about the cats catching mice, which could include rats (老鼠) in the original. (By the way, I saw another one tonight behind the counter at the restaurant on the Love River.) Too bad about the birds, they'll kill, though. Not that there are many of those in urban Taiwan.