Taiwan has banned people from eating and selling cat and dog meat and may publicly release the names and pictures of those who break the rules, officials said this week.
The amendment to Taiwan’s Animal Protection Act also adds penalties for eating the meat, including fines from 50,000 to 250,000 New Taiwan dollars (1,648.94 to 8244.70 U.S. dollars), according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency.
Dog and cat meat is still available in other countries in the region, including South Korea, Thailand and China, which has faced wide criticism for its annual dog meat festival.
But Taiwan’s ban reflects changing thoughts on the practice.
“Taiwan’s legislature has taken a monumental step in ending the dog-meat trade,” Humane Society International, an animal welfare organization, said in a statement in favor of the decision. “Most people in Asian countries do not eat dog and cat, and most find the cruel and often crime-fueled trade appalling.”
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