Taiwan has banned euthanasia of animals in shelters, following the tragic suicide last year of a vet overwhelmed with the backlash of putting down strays.
The law came into effect Saturday, two years after it was passed by the Taiwanese legislature, a period meant to allow the shelters to adjust to the ban.
The ban comes under the shadow of the suicide of Chien Chih-cheng, the head of a veterinarian clinic who injected herself with drugs used to euthanize animals in May last year. Chien faced intense public criticism after admitting to have killed over 700 dogs in two years in a TV interview, with the media dubbing her as a "butcher" and "beautiful slaughterer."
Chien's death has sparked calls for lawmakers to improve conditions for animals and staff at shelters.
According to the Life Conservationist Association, an animal welfare group, it is estimated that more than 1.2 million animals not adopted from shelters have been euthanized since 1999.
"Animal protection in Taiwan has moved towards a new milestone," the association's executive director Ho Tsung-hsun said in a statement to the media.
But Taiwan's Council of Agriculture warned the new law could lead to the deterioration in the quality of animal shelters and discourage the capture of strays.
"It's impossible for there to be no problems," Wang Chung-shu, deputy chief of the animal husbandry department, told to The China Times.
Wang said that the ban is "quite idealized," adding that the department is currently experiencing problems with manpower as Chien's suicide has created a "chilling" effect amongst would-be applicants.
Even before the ban was implemented, the number of animals being put down in Taiwan has been declining at a steady rate.
In 2016, 12.38 percent of 64,276 animals housed in public shelters have been euthanized, according to government data.
In contrast, of the 94,741 animals in shelters in 2017, 26.45 percent were put down.