A Taichung City resident was ordered to pay 80% of medical costs for the repair of a turtle’s shell, after she hit the animal while driving out of a parking lot in October, 2023. The pet owner was also found partially at fault. According to evidence presented to the Taichung District Court, a man named Hsu was walking his pet turtle in a car park when a woman, named Lee, driving a light truck, hit the animal, causing cracks to
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Three men sentenced over Taiwan’s largest cat-smuggling case
Three men, including a former coast guard officer, were found guilty and sentenced for attempting to smuggle 154 cats from China to Taiwan in 2021. Taiwan’s Supreme Court sentenced Zhang Fangyi and Zheng Changjia to one and a half years in prison, while Guo Minhao was sentenced to one year and two months suspended for four years. According to evidence presented to the court, on August 19, 2021, the fishing boat Shunfa 88 departed from the Badouzi Fishing Port in
Read moreTeacher apologizes for using cat in physics experiment
A Taipei City cram school teacher has apologized after receiving widespread condemnation for using a real cat to demonstrate what physicists call “the falling cat problem.” Physics teacher Lee Feng took to social media late last night to make a public apology after a video of him conducting the experiment went viral yesterday. The video shows Lee holding a ginger cat upside down by its legs before releasing it and letting it fall to the ground in front of a
Read moreIs that a turtle in your pocket? No Sir, It’s fourteen turtles!
A shoplifter was caught red-handed after stuffing a total of 14 small turtles in his pockets at an aquarium store in Tainan City yesterday, Sunday, January 21. At around 4:00pm, a store clerk at an aquarium shop in Anping District noticed a small turtle fall out of a customer’s bulging trouser pocket, and suspecting the man was attempting to shoplift, immediately called the police. Police from the nearby Huaping Police Station rushed to the aquarium shop and confronted the 57-year-old
Read morePet owner fined for stuffing large dog into small backpack
Animal welfare authorities will fine the owner of a husky that was stuffed into a backpack after police tracked the man down based on pictures taken by witnesses. Pictures surfaced on Taiwan’s social media website Dcard yesterday, showing a young husky bent over uncomfortably in a small, transparent backpack carried by a motorcyclist in Xinxing District, Kaohsiung City. The pictures quickly went viral as outraged animal lovers shared the images, calling for the pet’s owner to be found and punished.
Read moreStray silver fox to be put up for adoption if owner doesn’t come forward
A Miaoli County animal shelter will put a silver fox up for adoption if the owner doesn’t claim it within seven days, after the rare exotic pet was found wandering in a suburb of Miaoli City in recent days. Members of the public reported an unusual-looking stray dog with a Buddhist lucky charm hanging from its neck in the Fuxing Mountain area on the outskirts of Miaoli City a few days ago. The “dog” was chased by other stray dogs
Read moreKaohsiung City police solve mystery gun woman case: just taking care of business
Kaohsiung City police launched an investigation after pictures began circulating on social media this morning of a woman holding a gun and making shooting motions. The investigation found that the gun was a legal BB gun, and the woman was shooting at monkeys. The picture of a middle-aged woman wearing an apron while aiming a pistol appeared on the Facebook group “Road Observation Academy,” causing a discussion among readers. Some speculated that the woman may be a gangster, or perhaps
Read moreYoung Formosan black bear rescued from boar trap
Animal rescue workers took a juvenile Formosan black bear to a rehabilitation center for medical treatment after it was rescued from a boar trap in a mountain district of Miaoli County yesterday, October 16. A fruit farmer named Zhang was inspecting his orchard when he heard an animal growling in a nearby bamboo grove. On inspection, Zhang found a small black bear with one limb caught in a snare. Zhang contacted the Taichung branch of the Forestry and Nature Conservation
Read moreHornets nest removed after 4 hikers stung in New Taipei City mountain district
Specialist hornet catchers removed a nest of Asian Giant Hornets, after five hikers were stung in New Taipei City’s Ruifang District today. Keelung City Fire Department received a report at 10:46 am that three men and one woman were stung by hornets near the Tianwaitian Garden Cemetery. A 70-year-old man, a 64-year-old man, and a 60-year-old woman were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment. A 69-year-old man sought medical treatment on his own. The female hiker, named Liu was the
Read moreHornet attack on hiking group leaves 2 dead, 9 injured
Eleven people in a group of 20 hikers were stung by hornets in New Taipei City’s Ruifang District today, and four people were seriously injured. Two men lost vital signs and were declared dead after arrival at the hospital. The New Taipei City Fire Department received reports of the hornet attack at 11:38 am. Twenty ambulances and 51 personnel were dispatched to the trailhead. A command post was set up at the trailhead, and a rescue team was sent to
Read moreLeatherback sea turtle dies after ingesting fishing line
Hengchun, Taiwan – A leatherback turtle found stranded on the coast of Pingtung County in southern Taiwan in July died of starvation due to fishing line stuck in its digestive tract, an autopsy revealed. Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council released autopsy results indicating that the cause of death was necrotizing enteritis, as the turtle’s stomach was empty, and its intestinal tract contained a total of 425 centimeters of fishing line. This obstruction led to folding and twisting in the lower digestive
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