"Send Love Home" is a vehicle
used to safely
transport dogs
to their new homes.
A dog caught in a rubber band
was
reported by residents and
successfully
adopted after
rehabilitation.
Detailed information in front of
cages help boost adoption
number
Professional dog trainers at
train dogs at the shelter to
help make them
more
compatible to humans.
Dog No. 10207290035 is
waiting for you to take it home.
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In the shadow of death,
Survival is the only thing we hope for,
The warmest comfort you can give me is a home.
The locally-released documentary "Twelve Nights" not only revealed the real-life environment of public animal shelters but also aroused the public's attention to animal protection and animal welfare. The experiences and stories of Taichung "furkids"' strike near to home, making them everyone's responsibility. As an animal-friendly Taichung resident, what can you do for these furry friends?
"I'm just a regular Taichung citizen; I do not keep animals"
Mrs. Shu-juan is a noodle vendor. One uneventful evening, as she was preparing to close, she saw a black dog stumbling nearby and discovered that it had accidentally fallen prey to a "lunch box trap", with the rubber band stuck around its neck causing an infectious wound. Shu-juan couldn't do anything except immediately call a Taichung animal emergency hotline and, shortly afterwards, a veterinarian and personnel in blue uniforms arrived. Before they went into action, they asked her to leave contact information and stressed that they would capture the dog humanely. After being nursed back to health, the black dog was also available for adoption. Hearing its story, owner Ms. Zhu humorously named her new pet "Pig Head" and gives it a full measure of love.
"I want to adopt, instead of buy, the 'fur baby' of my life"
"Little Sweet" loves animals and went with his parents to the "Cute Animals Area" to adopt a canine companion at the Taichung City Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office at Nantun Park. Father praised the sweet staff gesture of posting a board noting each dog's name, personality, arrival time and recommendations, to help prospective owners find an animal suited to their own needs. Although the dogs in the park were very cute, there was no smaller dog that fit the family's needs, so the parents asked the staff if there were any other options for finding a dog to adopt.
Uncle Lin of the park dog shelter answered, "Besides two shelters in Nantun and Houli, we have a 'birth control plan' in cooperation with Taichung animal hospitals and have sent numbers of dogs and cats to the hospitals so that people can visit them easily. If it's too inconvenient to visit them one by one, go to the Taichung City Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office website to see all the information about for-adoption dogs and cats!"
The parents and Little Sweet decided to go to the Ting Ting Animal Hospital near their home and see "Happy". Happy was a small dog with a chocolate color and curly hair who had been at the hospital for two months, had learned how to "shake" and was already potty trained. Little Sweet loved Happy at first sight and the family immediately decided to adopt the dog. As Little Sweet was under the age of 20, his parents needed to go through the adoption procedures. The doctor told them Happy had already been neutered, vaccinated and micro-chipped, and was lively and in good health. After completing the pet registration and explaining some key points about keeping a pet, the doctor told Little Sweet, "When you decide to take him home, you must take the responsibility for caring for your dog! Congratulations, Happy is a new member of your family!"
"I love animals, and always want to do something for them"
Fred is a 30-year-old single man living in a rented house and currently unable to adopt a pet. He once had a mixed-breed dog named Pipi who was poisoned by someone. Thus, every time he sees a stray dog, he thinks of Pipi's eager eyes and soft fur. One day, at an agricultural products exhibition, Fred saw some mixed-breed dogs in front of an Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office booth and approached curiously to look at them and chat with some volunteers. In this way, he learned about the office and its work.
A volunteer named Hui told Fred that if he wanted to do something for stray animals, volunteering was a good option. The Taichung Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office especially seeks out potential volunteers with medical, animal husbandry, beauty care and other specific professional backgrounds. However, anyone interested in helping with animals can be a volunteer as soon as they get a specific number of training hours. They can start out assisting with copywriting to promote adoption and support large events. The volunteers also suggested that Fred visit the park to observe volunteer service before deciding whether to accept training or not.
On Saturday morning, Fred visited the park and watched Hui helping wash a long-haired dog. She smiled and said, "This 'A-bai' was adopted yesterday so now I'm helping bathe him and make him beautiful, to give a nice impression to the new owner. The park also offers a 'sending love home' service--this afternoon, I will take our 'pet love car' to take him to his new home!" After witnessing this, Fred felt his heart warm and quietly determined that he would become a volunteer at the Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office as part of its efforts for stray animals.
The city government helps you protect 'furkids'
To advocate animal birth control, Taichung City Government has started implementing subsidies for sterilization, offering NT$800 per male dog or cat and NT$1,400 per female dog or cat as a form of assistance to pet owners. Taichung Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office Director Yu Jian-zhong says that his organization is this year implementing a "TNRH" concept of trap, neuter and return to home, appealing to pet owners to keep pets at home, reducing a pet will wander outside, get sent to a shelter and be adopted again.
Besides providing various sterilization locations, there is also a "dog and cat rabies vaccination and pet registration" allowance time that provides discounts to owners who complete their pet's registration and rabies injections before the deadline. This encourages residents to bring their furry friends in to be vaccinated and micro-chipping, and to complete online pet-registration procedures.
Since 2014, Taichung City Government has commissioned animal protection groups to shelter elderly dogs. It also gives subsidies for basic medical supplies and other funding to help older dogs and cats with low adoption rates find warm homes for their "golden years". In such ways, everyone's strengths and efforts are consolidated to achieve the goal of making Taichung an animal-friendly city.
Taichung City Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office Animals Home
Service unit: Nantun Park
601, ZhongTai Rd., Nantun Dist., Taichung
(04) 2385-0976
Service unit: Houli Park
370, TiFang Rd., Houli Dist., Taichung
(04) 2588-8024
Service hours: Mon.-Sat. 8 am-5 pm
Accepts stray animal reports from the district office, district heads and citizens. Those filing a report must provide their names; anonymous reports will not be accepted. For catching dogs during non-service hours, call 1999. For emergency animal assistance, call 119.
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May 2014
