By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter
Strategies to find homes for stray animals will be improved and stray dogs could even “find jobs” as a result of an ambitious animal welfare program launched by Taipei City Government yesterday.
The program named “R2,” which represents “re-home” and “re-work,” is part of the city government’s “Year of Animal Welfare” initiative to educate pet owners about their responsibilities to their pets, Animal Protection Office (APO) -director Yen Yi-feng (嚴一峰) said.
Yen added that the country has made great strides in the establishment of animal shelters over the past 20 years or so, citing a study conducted by the Council of Agriculture last year, which found that the number of stray animals in Taiwan was down to 85,000 from an 890,000 in 1988.
The decrease can be attributed to a shift away from killing stray animals in favor of animal adoption, he added.
However, the office still thinks that greater awareness of pet owners’ responsibilities is needed, together with the increase in animal shelters and adoptions, particularly given the large number of cases of animal abuse and abandonment, Yen said.
Taipei City’s APO, established in January last year as the first of its kind among the nation’s municipal administrations, collaborates with animal rights groups to promote stray animal adoption and to end abandonment.
The office said it was established to do more than just house stray animals, hence the “Dogs at work” program, an initiative that seeks to turn stray dogs into working dogs.
After rigorous training, several dogs have started to work with Coast Guard Administration officers, while others worked in outdoor exhibition areas at the Flora Expo, APO officer Chen Yung-hao (陳永豪) said.
With proper training, these dogs can serve a wide range of functions Chen added.
“Think about it, they are transformed from stray dogs into working dogs,” he said. “Isn’t that great?”
The most intriguing part of the program is the APO’s introduction of “dog mentors” for the first time. The dog trainees will be no longer trained by human trainers, but trained canines.
Studies show that leaders in a pack of dogs are better equipped to teach, educate and discipline dogs under them than human instructors Formosa Friendly Animals Education Association secretary-general Hsieh Hsing-hui (謝杏慧) said.