By KHT Staff
KAOHSIUNG — Kaohsiung City has been rated “Excellent” in the Ministry of Agriculture’s 2025 national animal protection assessment, ranking among the top performers nationwide, according to the China Times.
The evaluation covered pet registration management, regulation of designated pet businesses, law enforcement performance, dog and cat sterilization programs, policy innovation, and humane laboratory animal management. Kaohsiung recorded an overall target completion rate of more than 93 percent.
The city’s Agriculture Bureau said that between 2024 and 2025, authorities conducted 36,597 inspections, including 4,148 cases reported by the public and 32,449 proactive inspections. Enforcement actions resulted in 311 penalties, with total fines reaching NT$8.57 million. During the same period, 16,086 dogs and cats were sterilized, accounting for more than 15 percent of the national total, the report said.
Agriculture Bureau Director Yao Chih-wang (姚志旺) said animal protection policy has evolved into a cross-department urban governance issue. He said the city plans to deepen its initiatives and develop Taiwan’s first “animal-friendly special zone” (友善動物特區), with the long-term goal of creating a city where humans and animals can coexist in harmony.
An animal-friendly special zone (友善動物特區) appears to refer to a citywide governance model that integrates animal welfare into urban planning and public policy, treating it as a cross-department responsibility rather than a single agency task. In practice, this would mean expanding pet-friendly public spaces, strengthening enforcement against abuse and neglect, promoting responsible pet ownership through registration and sterilization programs, and embedding animal-friendly principles into transportation, tourism, housing, and community education.
