Breeder Sent to the Police as Passerby Frightened by a Goose 被鵝追咬報警 飼主遭違「社維法」送辦

Last month, in Taitung County, a scooter driver was chased and bitten by a goose and then he reported it to the police. However, the court said, geese are generally cute and normally would not scare people so it exempted the breeder from any punishment or fines.

It is a common phenomenon to raise geese in the countryside. When strangers approach, a goose would, like any other animal, make warning noises. Once a passerby was frightened by a goose and pecked by it, but do geese normally bite people unprovoked? A professional goose farm in Taitung noted that geese are actually quite timid, but if threatened, they too will, like most animals, take on self-protecting actions.

Mr. Chen, Resident: “It is not aggressive just happened to run out like that.”

Ms. Chen, Owner of Goose Farm: “It is actually very timid. If you do not attack or threaten it, it will not (attack people).”

In January, a scooter driver in Taitung County Beinan Township passed by in front of a goose farm and was chased and bitten by a goose. Frightened, he reported to the police. The police handled the case and transferred the owner pursuant to the "Encouraging or Allowing Animals to Scare People" provision under the Social Order Maintenance Act. However, the Taitung District Court determined that the breeder did not encourage or allow the goose to attack people. Also, geese are generally cute and normally would not scare people. Hence, it did not constitute an element of a violation. The court thus exempted the breeder from any discipline or fines.

Tsai Li-chun, Presiding Judge, Criminal Court, Taitung District Court: “He believes that the subject animal is a goose, and a goose is intrinsically not likely to scare people passing by.”

The Presiding Judge of Taitung District Court noted that even though the breeder is exempted from the three days or more detention and fines of no more than NT$12,000 under the Social Order Maintenance Act, his goose nevertheless caused another's injury or financial loss, thus the victim may still petition for separate civil or criminal damages.

鄉下人家養鵝很普遍，看到陌生人靠近，鵝也會像大部份的動物一樣發出叫聲警告外來的人，曾經有人被鵝的嘴啄過受到驚嚇，但是鵝會不會主動咬人呢？台東一家專業的養鵝場表示，鵝其實很膽小，但是威脅到牠，鵝也會像大多數的動物一樣，會採取保護自己的反應。

民眾陳先生表示：「攻擊性沒有，就是剛好衝出來這樣子。」

養鵝場老闆娘陳女士也表示：「牠其實牠很膽小，如果說你沒有去攻擊，還是說你沒有就是威脅到牠，牠就不會了（攻擊人）。」

上個月在台東縣卑南鄉就有一位民眾，騎機車路過養鵝人家門口被鵝追咬受到驚嚇，於是報警處理，警方依社會秩序維護法「驅使或縱容動物嚇人者」將飼主送辦。但台東地方法院認為，飼主沒有驅使或縱容鵝去攻擊人，而且鵝形象呆萌不至於嚇到人，不構成違法要件，裁定飼主免罰。

台東地院刑庭庭長蔡立群表示：「他認為本案的這個動物是鵝，那鵝這個動物本身形象上面，並不會嚇到經過的人。」

台東地院庭長表示，雖然飼主不必受社會秩序維護法處罰3天以下拘留或新臺幣1萬2000元以下罰鍰，但是他的鵝造成他人受傷或財產損失，被害人還是可以提出另外的刑事或是民事求償。