Department of Economic Development

"Animal adoption" has become a popular concept now. People can adopt animals through Taipei City Animal Protection Office (TCAPO) or even non-governmental organizations online. TCAPO has found that some people adopting animals are asked to sign contracts or severance agreements with "high-priced fines". This has triggered many debates online. On August 27, TCAPO thus invited attorney Hung-Yi Yan, chairman of the Animal Law Research Association in Taiwan (ALRAPTW) to give a lecture on "FAQs on Animal Adoption Contracts". As animal protection groups and midway caregivers have also provided opinions and ALRAPTW has taken ownership in providing the latest template for the adoption contracts, people can now obtain such information by registering with the TCAPO.

TCAPO stated that when making an animal adoption contract, the contract text and specifications should be clear. Aside from referring to the existing animal adoption application form of TCAPO, attorney Yan has also reminded people of the 5 precautions that should be clearly stipulated in the contract so as to work as the basis for handling incidents in the future. The 5 precautions are "information about the adopter and the animal", "conditions for adopting the animal", "requirements for pet registration and sterilization", "reasonable follow-up and default amounts", and "education on regulations and animal protection". Moreover, TCAPO has especially emphasized that if the person giving you the animal charges you for the nutrition and medical expenses without giving evidence that the expenses are the actual expenditure, he or she may be involved in a disguised buying and selling behavior and can be fined between NT$100,000 and NT$3,000,000 in accordance with the provisions of the Animal Protection Act.

It is suggested that you choose to adopt animals for free from TCAPO, as you will not only obtain a number of animal care benefits, including free life-long rabies vaccine injections for dogs and cats but also free mixed multivalent vaccinations for a lifetime and health check-up benefits every 2 years if you adopt dogs and cats over 7 years old or sheltered for more than 1 year. For more information on adopting animals, please join the TCAPO Facebook fan page (https://www.facebook.com/tcapo.tas) or check the TCAPO official website (https: //www.tcapo.gov.taipei/).