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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》Number of pet dogs and cats increases
A puppy is pictured in Tainan in an undated photograph. Photo: Tainan City Animal Health Inspection and Protection Office
PUBLIC HEALTH: The ministry urged owners of unsterilized dogs not to let their pets wander around freely, as they are the main source of the stray dog problem
By Wu Po-Hsuan / Staff reporter
There were an estimated 1.48 million pet dogs and 1.31 million pet cats in Taiwan last year, an increase of 19 percent and 50 percent respectively compared with 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture’s latest survey showed.
As raising children is challenging, many people have turned to raising pets, which is why the ministry data released on Friday show an increase of pet dogs and cats in the nation.
The ministry’s data, based on a telephone survey last year, show that 28.3 percent of households in Taiwan have pets, which is a 6.7 percent increase from 2021.
The survey estimated that there were 1,480,637 pet dogs last year, an increase of 19 percent from 1,235,218 dogs in 2021.
There were an estimated 1,311,449 pet cats last year, an increase of 50 percent from 870,801 in 2021, the data showed.
The survey result matches the global trend of the number of households with pet cats increasing, as urbanization intensifies, the ministry said.
About 10.4 percent of households had cats last year, an increase of 3.8 percent compared with 2021, while 13.8 percent had dogs last year, an increase of 1.3 percent, it said.
Moreover, the ministry found that 9.3 percent of households have other pets, which is a 3.3 percent increase from two years ago.
Pets in Taiwan are becoming more diversified, so the ministry’s administration of pets needs adjustments, it said.
The survey also showed that the sterilization rate of pet dogs was 68.9 percent, an increase from 66.4 percent in 2021, and the rate among pet cats was 82.8 percent, increasing from 84.6 percent, suggesting that cat owners are relatively willing to have their pet neutered.
The pet dog registration rate was 70.6 percent last year, an increase from 69.5 percent in 2021, and 58.4 percent of cats were registered, up from 50.7 percent in 2021, the survey showed.
National regulations require pet dogs to be microchipped and registered, while only Taipei requires pet cats to be registered.
The ministry said it is mulling different levels of animal welfare management for different types of pets.
As the number of cat owners has significantly increased, it is also assessing the feasibility of a mandatory pet cat registration mechanism, it added.
Letting unsterilized pet dogs run outdoors freely is the main source of the stray dog problem, the ministry said, and urged dog owners not to let their dogs wander around and reproduce freely.
Aside from landline phone calls, the survey’s sampling population included randomly selected cellphone numbers, and 10,348 valid samples were collected, with a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points, the ministry said.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
