TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Tainan is building a “drone army” to tackle the problem of stray animals.

In collaboration with National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, the city government is using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to track wandering dogs in coastal areas, a hot spot for strays. The effort has proved effective and efficient, allowing for better control of homeless creatures.

According to Tainan’s Animal Health Inspection and Protection Office, wild dogs are alert, elusive, and hard to catch. By identifying locations where they frequent, officials can place cage traps in advance or deploy personnel to anesthetize the animals.

Canines deemed to pose a risk to people or vehicles will be prioritized in the removal missions and sent for neutering and training. They will be employed as working dogs or be made available for adoption.

Through airborne imagery and AI technologies, the government said the approach helps improve stray animal management and reduce human-dog conflicts. The city’s animal welfare personnel are working to secure licenses before a drone fleet can be put in place.

A 2019 survey put the number of homeless dogs in Taiwan at 155,000, per the Council of Agriculture. Tainan recorded 19,000 strays, second only to Pingtung, which logged 20,000, per Agriharvest.

Tainan uses drones to locate stray dogs. (Tainan City Government photos)