Taipei, Oct. 2 (CNA) The Ministry of Labor warned Friday that the consumption of dog or cat meat is a violation of the the Animal Protection Act, in the wake of reports that some foreign workers in Taiwan have killed dogs or cats for their meat.
The ministry has provided education to foreign workers about the Animal Protection Act on a regular basis, such as including the content of the law in a pamphlet for foreign workers and showing them a video about the issue when they first enter Taiwan, said Chen Chang-pang (陳昌邦), a senior specialist from the ministry's Workforce Development Agency.
If a foreign worker is indicted for violating the Animal Protection Act, the Ministry of Labor will first revoke his or her work permit, Chen said.
If the worker is convicted, he or she will be deported after the sentence is served and will not be allowed to work in Taiwan ever again, he said.
According to the Employment Service Act, employers will be given a deadline to rectify the situation if the foreign workers they hire violate the Animal Protection Act because they failed to educate them about the law.
If the employers are caught a second time for the same offense, they will be fined between NT$60,000 and NT$300,000, and their permit to hire foreign workers will also be revoked, he said.
If labor brokerage companies do not fulfill their obligation of reminding foreign workers about the Animal Protection Law, they can also be fined between NT$60,000 and NT$300,000, he said.
Chen made the statement in response to complaints by opposition Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) and animal protectionists after a large number of articles about foreign workers killing dogs and cats have appeared on the Internet recently.
Tien and the animal protectionists said they reported the situation to police but did not receive any response.
Reports of foreign workers, mostly from Southeast Asia, killing dogs for their meat have surfaced in Taiwan from time to time.
In 2013, five foreign workers from Vietnam were arrested in Chiayi for killing two dogs, cooking them and then serving them for meal.
In 2011, another Thai worker working in Taichung was found to have beaten a dog to death and then grilled it for food.
轉自: http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201510020015.aspx
