TAIPEI: Authorities said yesterday they have ordered so-called "detention centers" for stray animals to be closed after activists highlighted appalling conditions in the temporary shelters.

Stray pets kept in the 104 centers across the island are to be transported to regular shelters, said the cabinet-level Council of Agriculture.

The move came after animal rights groups complained about the state of the centers, which are run by local teams of garbage collectors. "Many animals are fed decayed, left-over food and water or nothing at all while locked in an extremely filthy environment," said Chen Yu-min, director of the Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan.

"They are treated like garbage. Some sick dogs are left to die painfully and slowly with maggots crawling all over their wounds," she said.

In 2008, some 170,000 stray animals were captured in Taiwan, according to the authorities. Once rounded up, they are kept in shelters for seven days, after which they are put down if no one adopts them.

The environment and animal society has teamed up with other animal protection organizations and are seeking to establish a special animal protection agency under the council, Chen said.

AFP

(HK Edition 11/19/2009 page2)