Taipei: Taiwan's Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) said Tuesday that broader public support is needed to implement humane euthanasia in animal shelters, after a citizen-led petition called for such action. The public proposal was submitted via the National Development Council's public policy participation website in early July. It had urged the government to "implement humane euthanasia in animal shelters, strengthen management of owner responsibility, and require any animal feeder or animal caretaker to bear legal responsibility under the Animal Protection Act."

According to Focus Taiwan, in response to the petition, the MOA said it held a meeting with animal protection agencies and groups from across Taiwan on Tuesday. Public animal shelters have not carried out culling since June 2017, which has led to overcrowding. Some animal protection groups said animals dying of old age or illness in cramped spaces is a greater neglect of animal welfare than humane euthanasia.

The Animal Protection Act allows for the euthanasia of animals with notifiable infectious diseases, incurable serious illnesses, or conditions that seriously affect public sanitation, but in practice, this has not been implemented. Chiang Wen-chuan, director general of the MOA's Department of Animal Welfare, told reporters that "zero culling is not zero euthanasia," noting that "the rate of humane euthanasia in public shelters is currently below 1 percent."

"Many people in society still have doubts about humane euthanasia, and many veterinarians are unwilling to perform it," Chiang said, adding that "most shelters still adopt a strategy of treating and saving animals as much as possible." The MOA will compile all views and issue a response to the petition on the public policy participation website by the end of September, Chiang said.