TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taoyuan City Government has enlisted a team from National Yunlin University of Science and Technology to use drone photography and AI technology to map the distribution of stray dogs in the city.

The Taoyuan City Animal Protection Office has been seeking ways to increase efficiency in capturing stray dogs, a traditionally labor- and time-intensive task. By leveraging better data, the city aims to enhance daily operations and manage the stray dog population more effectively.

Animal Protection Office Director Wang De-ji (王得吉) said that staff previously relied on blowguns to anesthetize stray dogs, which often resulted in dogs wandering into dense grass or remote areas before the sedative took effect, per CNA. Limited staff and challenging terrain made recovery efforts difficult.

To address these challenges, Wang’s office partnered with National Yunlin University of Science and Technology to apply high-tech solutions. The university's researchers used drones and AI tools to identify hotspots for stray dog activity, providing location and population data to the Animal Protection Office, which then plans capture operations based on the information.

Chen Jing-ru (陳靜茹), an assistant professor at Yunlin’s Department of Electrical Engineering, explained that drones equipped with thermal imaging are used to detect stray dogs on roads and farmland. The data helps accurately pinpoint their movements and locations.

Chen added that while dense vegetation or buildings can complicate capture efforts, the drones' aerial capabilities enable more effective tracking, improving the chances of successful capture.