2014年4月中旬，網路上流傳了一則影片，影片內容為一名男子揮著器具並伴隨著狗狗的叫聲，這個影片也引起了軒然大波，許多民眾認為已違法虐待動物並擔心狗狗的安全，因此便求助於Taiwan SPCA的協助。協會於接獲民眾提供的檢舉及影片後，在第一時間便通報基隆市政府產業發展處(此為基隆市的動保主管機關)，要求其依法調查並作後續處置。該案承辦人員也立即依循民眾提供的地址與飼主約談並實際觀察飼主與狗之間的互動。
根據調查顯示，狗狗的精神、外觀並沒有任何異狀，且狗狗與飼主的互動非常良好。飼主也表示是因為狗狗非常黏人，所以每天一大早飼主要出門時，才會狂吠想阻止他離開。飼主擔心叫聲會影響他人，因此當天才以處罰的方式試圖讓狗安靜。從動物福利觀點，若為長期忽視或是長期辱罵所造成的緊迫也是虐待的一種。但根據承辦人員的觀察，除了未發現動物有實質身體的受傷,而從狗狗的反應以及與飼主之間的互動，也並沒有發現狗狗有過度緊張、亢奮,害怕飼主的表現或任何異常行為。
根據所有的證據及評估，協會與政府承辦人員皆一致認為是狗狗的吠叫聲加上飼主不當嚇阻狗的行為，才引發了動物受虐的誤會。由於這個案件的原因是狗狗疑似分離性焦慮症而引發的吠叫, 因此我們也強烈建議飼主要帶狗狗接受專業的行為訓練課程，以鼓勵的方式取代處罰，來根絕狗狗吠叫的問題。本協會也積極推動行為訓練課程及教育，致力於讓人與動物之間，能夠互相理解、尊重及包容，以減少因為錯誤的認知，而衍生出的動物虐待及棄養問題。
由於台灣的公寓大廈很多，協會調查專員也深刻了解在私人領域蒐證的困難，大多因視線死角而較難以錄到清楚畫面。有時又因為大樓結構產生的回音，甚至無法定位是哪一戶的動物。為了順利進行調查，同時也考量到只有報案當事人最了解事發的大致地點及時間，因此協會希望民眾在報案之前能先試著詢問熟識的鄰居，記錄每次事發的時間及位置，並試著拍攝動物的照片或影片，供協會調查專員或者政府主管機關來做評估，並協助案件調查的效率進行。
請記住，您適時的伸出援手將會為動物的未來帶來一線希望！
In mid April, 2014, a video circulated around the internet. The video was of a man waving a tool in the direction of his barking dog. This video caught a lot of people’s attention, many people thought that this behavior was illegal and were concerned about the dog’s wellbeing, so they contacted the Taiwan SPCA for help. After we received the video, we immediately contacted the department of Economic Affairs in Keelung (which is in charge of animal protection in Keelung), and asked them to investigate the situation. The person who was in charge of this case also immediately visited the dog’s owner and observed the interaction between the dog and the owner.
According to our investigation, it turned out that there was nothing abnormal with the dog’s behaviour and appearance and the interaction between the dog and the owner was quite good. The dog’s owner stated that his dog is very attached to him, so every morning when he goes out, the dog would try to stop him by barking a lot. He was very worried that the barking would disturb his neighbours, so on the day in question he punished him in hopes of making him quiet. From an animal welfare stance, if an animal becomes stressed because of neglect it is also considered a form of abuse. But according to our inspector’s observation, there was no sign of physical injury, and based on the dog’s interaction with his owner, there weren’t any signs of stress or fear of his owner.
Based on the evidence and evaluation, by both TSPCA inspectors and government agents it was agreed that the dog’s barking and the owner’s deterrence wrongly led people to think that the dog was being abused. Since this case was caused by the dog’s constant barking which stems from his separation anxiety, we strongly suggested to the owner that he take his dog to professional behavior training classes to help solve the separation anxiety issues. The TSPCA has monthly obedience training classes to promote proper training methods. We hope by helping people understand animal behaviour and language, there will be a greater respect for animals, thus leading to less cases of animal abuse, neglect and abandonment.
In Taiwan, most people live in condos or apartments, which can make gathering evidence quite difficult, due to lack of visual and audio availability. In order to smoothly investigate a case, we hope that people reporting the case could help by gathering as much video/audio evidence as possible, thus helping greatly in our investigation process.
If you are interested in animal behavior training, or don’t know what to do when you encounter behavioral problem, please refer to below link:
http://www.spca.org.tw/235602698923478293563534732244-professional-dog-training.html
http://www.fetchingpaws.com/
If you want to report a possible animal abuse case, or are looking for relevant suggestion, please refer to the below link:
http://www.spca.org.tw/cruelty-investigations-343842445326696202143551926597.html
Please remember, your helping hand could shine a bright light on the future of an animal in need!
法律小常識:
動物保護法
第6條:
任何人不得惡意或無故騷擾、虐待或傷害動物。
第27-1條:
散布、播送或販賣違反第六條、第十條或第十二條第一項之文字、圖畫、 聲音、影像、電磁紀錄或其他物品，或公然陳列，或以他法供人觀賞、聽 聞者，處一年以下有期徒刑、拘役或科或併科三萬元以下罰金。但為供學 術研究或公益用途者，不在此限。
Animal Protection Act:
Article 6:
No one shall inflict disturbance, maltreatment or harm on animals intentionally or without justification.
Article 27-1:
Any distribution, broadcast or sale of the text, picture, voice, image, electromagnetic record or other article in violation of Article 6, Article 10 or Paragraph 1 of Article 12, publicly display, or make the foregoing available for others to view or hear by means of other methods, shall be penalized by imprisonment up to one year, detention, or in lieu thereof or in addition thereto a fine up to NT$30,000, except for the purposes of academic research or public interests.
