Cabinet raises top fine for abandoning pets to NT$1 million

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Cabinet is set to pass amendments to the Animal Protection Act that would raise fines for abandoning pets to up to NT$1 million (US$31,000), impose harsher penalties for animal abuse, and expand liability for cruelty causing death.

To prevent owners from abandoning pets without justification or handing them over to government agencies arbitrarily, pets sent to shelters must meet certain conditions. If these conditions are not met, it will be considered abandonment.

To prevent owners from repeatedly using pet loss as an excuse to cover up abandonment or evade inspection and enforcement, owners of registered pets must report the loss to local authorities within five days of the incident. Failure to do so, unless for legitimate reasons such as injury or hospitalization will also be considered abandonment. 

Fines for abandoning pets will be raised from the current range of NT$30,000 to NT$150,000 to between NT$100,000 and NT$1 million.

To strengthen animal protection, the draft increases criminal penalties for animal abuse and for cruelty causing death. Under current law, animal abuse is punishable by up to two years in prison or detention, with fines of NT$200,000 to NT$2,000,000.

The amendment raises the penalty for animal abuse to a term of five to 10 years in prison, with fines of NT$300,000 to NT$3 million.

In addition, under current law, animal cruelty resulting in death is punishable by one to five years in prison and a fine of between NT$500,000 and NT$5 million only when it causes the deaths of multiple animals and involves serious circumstances. The draft amendment revises this to include cases in which an animal is killed through firearms, violence, or other cruel methods under serious circumstances, with the sentence subject to an increase of up to half.