Department of Economic Development

Taipei City has revised the "Taipei Animal Shelter Service Fee Standards" and announced it today, raising the service fee for owners who “do not wish to continue keeping their animals”. The general care and sheltering fee has been raised from NT$4,800 to NT$8,500 and the special care and sheltering fee has been increased from NT$10,000 to NT$14,000. In addition, according to the Animal Protection Act, specific pets must be spayed or neutered. If a pet is found and brought to TAS, TAS will assist in completing sterilization. When the owner picks up the pet, he or she must pay a sterilization fee of NT$950 for a male dog (cat) and NT$1,600 for a female dog (cat). TCAPO calls on pet owners to fulfill their responsibilities for keeping pets and avoid abandoning them at will.

TCAPO stated that the "Taipei Animal Shelter Service Fee Standards" has not been adjusted for more than 5 years since its release on August 2, 2017. In order to protect the animal sheltering care and enhance animal medical care quality, TCAPO increases the number of on-site veterinarians and animal care staff to care for sheltered dogs and cats every year. In recent years, due to the significant increase in the cost of labor, feed and other materials and in response to the implementation of the nationwide zero-culling policy, the number of animal shelter days has increased. According to statistics, the average number of animal shelter days in TAS between 2018 and 2020 has reached 88.82 days. Therefore, TCAPO has recalculated the fees that a pet owner shall pay when he or she does not intend to continue raising the pet at home and send it to the pet care facility. Moreover, TCAPO has also reviewed and revised the fees for spaying and neutering and for incinerating pet carcasses so as to implement the user pays principle.

TCAPO stated that from 2020 to 2022, TAS received an average of 48 animals per year from owners who did not want to continue to keep their animals. The reasons for such applications include aggressiveness of the animal or the owner's inability to continue raising the animal due to old age or physical discomfort. TCAPO hopes that the revision of this regulation will reflect the actual cost of raising and caring for animals at Taipei Animal Shelter and that pet owners will understand the importance of owner responsibilities. For more information on animal sheltering and adoption, please visit the TCAPO website or the “tcapo.tas” Facebook fan page.