TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan will review regulations on animal euthanasia for strays suffering incurable diseases so they can die a dignified death, agricultural authorities said.

The country has adopted a zero-euthanasia approach, except for a few exceptions since 2017, when an amendment to the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法) took effect. While hailed by activists as a step toward better animal welfare, the move has left many severely-ill strays housed at public shelters in anguish, said Huang Chin-cheng (黃金城), deputy minister of the Council of Agriculture (COA).

Local shelters have been reluctant to put down gravely sick animals due to a lack of standards for the practice and for fear of sparking controversy, Huang acknowledged. He promised a revisit of relevant rules and the enactment of uniform procedures for aching creatures to die with dignity, Agriharvest quoted him as saying.

The issue was brought to the fore at a public hearing on how the government can advance pet welfare on Monday (July 11), organized by the Animal Protection Association (APA) and Legislator Lai Hui-yuan (賴惠員) of the Democratic Progressive Party. Pet care has become top of the COA agenda as a new pet management unit takes shape.

Previously, sheltered animals would be euthanized if they were not claimed or adopted after 12 days, which inspired a 2013 documentary, "Twelve Nights," that exposed the plight of homeless animals. A Taiwanese veterinarian, who had put down hundreds of dogs and was called a “butcher” by internet trolls, “euthanized herself” in 2016 to protest what she believed was systemic abuse of strays.