A female college student told Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen on November 14 that she “intends to vote for Ma Ying-jeou or to spoil the ballot”.
Yan Sen-yao, an officer of an animal rights group at National Taiwan University (NTU), met with Tsai to protest the Council of Agriculture's (COA) sluggish moves to resolve animal abuse and other welfare issues.
Other lobbyists included NTU professor Iris Huang, author Chu Tien-hsin and film director Hou Hsiao-hsien.
Chu called the current administration incompetent, and said it played a role in cultivating the public's apathy toward the treatment of animals.
Hou and Huang told Tsai that their activist coalition had requested a meeting with President Ma Ying-jeou, but the Office of the President has yet to respond.
Yan stressed that nevertheless, her vote stays with Ma.
“I'm sorry, chairperson Tsai, but in the presidential election, you are not on my ballot,” she said during the forum, adding that she intends to vote for Ma or to cast an invalid ballot.
Questioned after the event, Yan told local media that “Ma's record on animal welfare is beyond terrible”, but “his cross-strait policy is better”.
Tsai responded that she expects to swing no votes by the force of her stance on animal rights, but that the concerns of a potential leader of Taiwan do include the welfare of animals.
She is running on a DPP 10-year platform that underscores the right of all life and respect for the environment. These statements seem abstract but have far-reaching implications, she said.
At present, expenses related to animal welfare are allocated about 0.13 per cent of the COA's annual budget. Tsai said that in the first year of office she expects to double the budget, which will go into retooling the basic infrastructure.
The problem of stray and unwanted animals cannot be solved through removal and euthanasia, she said. Rather, the overpopulation problem must be treated at the source, through catch-and-neuter programmes and subsidies to sterilize, register and microchip household pets.
A strong social system to facilitate the recovery of lost animals also keeps strays off the street.
Other measures include improved shelter conditions, adoption promotion, social education programmes, and a strengthened regulatory system on puppy farms and other breeding grounds.
Tsai also promised an animal control office that abides by ethical standards when removing strays. The office will replace today's private companies and other grab-bag personnel that do not always handle the task humanely, she said.
