Tougher animal cruelty laws pass review stage

NOT FAR ENOUGH: Trees Party member Lee Chien-ming said that although the amendments raised the legal status of animals, they failed to raise it above ‘property’ status

By Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter





Draft amendments to the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法), which aim to increase penalties for animal cruelty, yesterday passed an initial legislative review.

In the wake of a series of animal abuse incidents, including the alleged killing of a stray cat by a National Taiwan University student and the alleged killing of a stray dog by members of the Republic of China Marine Corps, the legislature’s Economics Committee approved the amendments to raise penalties for animal cruelty.

The amendments are set to double the punishments for killing and injuring animals from up to one year in prison and a fine ranging between NT$100,000 and NT$1 million (between US$3,095 and US$30,959) to up to two years in prison and a fine ranging between NT$200,000 and NT$2 million.

Killing animals with poison or firearms would be punishable with one to five years in prison and a fine of NT$500,000 to NT$5 million, according to the proposed amendments.

Slaughtering dogs and cats and selling, purchasing, possessing or consuming food products made with dog or cat meat would be punishable by a fine of NT$50,000 to NT$250,000, and authorities would have the right to disclose the name and picture of the violators.

To prevent injury to animals, the amendments are to prohibit pet owners from walking their pets by tying a leash on a moving vehicle, with violators to be fined between NT$3,000 and NT$15,000.

Meanwhile, the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee passed a draft amendment to the Condominium Administration Act (公寓大廈管理條例), removing a provision that allowed management committees of residential complexes to prohibit residents from keeping pets.

Management committees can still regulate pet ownership, but they would have no power to prohibit residents from keeping pets, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said.

However, Trees Party member Lee Chien-ming (李建明), who had organized a campaign to call for increased penalties for animal cruelty that eventually led to the amendments, said that although the amendments to the Animal Protection Act raised the legal status of animals, they failed to raise it above the status of “property.”

“According to the Criminal Code, damaging property is punishable by a maximum sentence of two years in prison, which is as much as the penalty required by the draft amendments. That means animal rights are taken on par with property rights. That is regrettable,” Lee said.

“The campaign was aimed at establishing a minimum sentence of six months in prison for animal abuse, so animals could be granted an intermediate status between human and property. Unfortunately, legislators might believe that society is not yet ready to accept the idea of giving more legal protection to animals,” he added.

Although the campaign collected more than 500,000 signatures, the figure represented only a fraction of the nation’s more than 10 million voters and the campaign would continue to educate the public about animal welfare, Lee said.