Government Bans Pets with Aggressive Behavior|飼養非犬貓寵物成風潮 農委會推把關機制

The Ministry of Agriculture says 11 percent of pets in Taiwan are not dogs and cats. Some people take in animals for their cute or exotic looks but these creatures may not be suited for domestic life. Many of these animals have been abandoned by their owners and have led to some issues.


This raccoon is a popular figure on Facebook, with over 190,000 followers. Many are interested in having a raccoon as a pet because of its cute appearance. However, the raccoon's owner discovered that the species does not adapt easily to Taiwan's environment. It also has a hard time trusting its owners, which might lead to aggressive behavior and the owner abandoning it.

Many fellow raccoon owners' families are against them having this kind of pet. I've heard some owners have performed euthanasia on their pets. Some have donated the pets to their friends in the mountains to be used as food.

People adopt many types of animals as pets due to their attractive appearance, such as hedgehogs, sugar gliders, and even reptiles. Some owners have not adequately assessed the feasibility of owning these animals and tend to abandon them after the interest is gone. Some of the abandoned pets, such as Brazilian turtles and iguanas have intrusive behavior and seriously interfere with people's lifestyles. The forestry bureau has set up a list of high risk animals which are banned from being imported.

Some animals could cause damage to the environment and local ecology. We will list them as high risk animals and ban them from being imported.

The forestry bureau is also planning to set up a grey list to allow a number of animals to be imported. However, members of the local animal rights group believe that such a list poses too much risk.

Countries like Belgium have a list of animals that are banned from import. Only 42 species are allowed to be adopted as pets, whereas the other species pose too much risk to the rest of society.

The imported pets have brought a number of issues to Taiwan. The government wants to solve the issue by educating the public and tightening control.