Response to ITD's newsletter, subject: Wuchiu allegations

[Guest guest]

I hope everyone has read my previous post, which contained the ITD newsletter in

question.

 

 

 

I apologize for taking so long, to set this situation

 

straight. I am working to help all animals, and

replying to something like this, is NOT high on my

list of priorities.

 

 

For anyone who isn't aware, I am the person who

authored and circulated the alert alleging the abuse

of dogs on the Republic of China's military island of

Wu-Chiou.

 

When I get word of such severe cruelty to animals, I

try to verify the information as much as possible,

which is what I did, before I even authored the alert

I sent out. I made these efforts despite the fact that

the image of tortured animals haunted me and it was

obvious that they would need help desperately if the

allegations were true. I have covered the issue of

 

validating the allegations below.

 

I share the belief with Sirius and ITD that Taiwan has

been making more efforts than its neighbors, notably

China, for animal welfare. So far, I am very impressed with

the replies from Taiwan’s government officials, concerning

 

this issue. In fact, the efforts of any country regarding animal welfare,

deserve praise and should be recognized where possible. However, the statement

that Sirius and ITD

 

has circulated regarding the allegations, seem rather irresponsible.

 

 

 

My concern is that since Wu-Chiou is an island, occupied mostly by soldiers and

commanding officers, it would not be hard for the cruelty to be covered up, with

or without the sanctioning of the Taiwan government officials! If true, it was a

good move on the government’s part to send an investigative team to seek the

truth, but had they included an outspoken animal welfare group from Taiwan, who

would put the interests of the animals first, I would have been happy to accept

their findings. Why would anyone concerned with the welfare of the animals, be

completely accepting of the report, of those who would have an interest in not

digging too deeply into the accusations of animal cruelty! I find it odd that

ITD and Sirius are in such a hurry to deny the allegations, as though they had

some concrete proof on this matter.

 

 

 

One very telling statement made by ITD and Elly Maynard is;

 

 

 

>>“From our conversations with representatives of the ROC Govt, we believe them

to be firmly committed to the enforcement of their Animal Protection Law. In

this respect they are a model for many other countries of the region.

Politically the ROC has many enemies who would like to see its APL fail, since

this Law brings it closer in line with most western nations. We have no interest

in politics, but suspect that these allegations could be politically

motivated.”<<

 

 

 

Taiwan has not strictly upheld their animal protection law! Not all that long

ago, an alert was circulated about Taiwan’s ritual sacrifice of force-fed pigs.

I am aware that the founder of Sirius is not an animal rights activist in the

true sense, so the following issue is not a concern of hers. Taiwan’s “pigs of

god” contest is an exercise in animal cruelty, and the President of Taiwan takes

part in this practice, therefore, ITD and Elly Maynard can hardly say that

Taiwan is “firmly committed to the enforcement of their animal protection law!”

 

Information about this very cruel practice, which is dated August 22, 2003, can

be found at: http://www.wspa.org.uk/index.php?page=865

 

Another site that describes this cruel practice is at;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/science/nature/3136587.stm

 

 

It is true that the original article about this issue, which was

 

written in Chinese, disappeared from the web, but many have seen the original

article which the English translation was based on. I trust that those who

translated the article and published it on their site did so, because they held

the interests of the animals in their heart. ITD and

Sirius however, did not hesitate to undermine these

efforts, by suggesting that they have dubious political motives.

 

 

 

One of the statements of the officials of ROC Council of Agriculture, in ITD’s

recent newsletter, is a good example of why we must be vigilant in our efforts

to find the truth! The statement I am referring to, is at the bottom under the

heading “Note,” which reads

 

 

 

>>There are around 10-15 wild dogs on the island at the moment. Those dogs stay

in the caves during the daytime and come out only after sunset. It’s hard to

catch them because there are a lot of land mines on the island and it’s

dangerous for the soldiers to try to catch the dogs<<

 

 

 

Does anyone question how there could be so few homeless dogs on this island?

Homeless dogs will breed indiscriminately, whenever they are in heat. If the

soldiers do not interfere with these animals and no one has taken the initiative

to spay/neuter them, why are there so few? Does this sound normal?

 

 

In the report by the ROC Council of Agriculture, under the section headed

“Treatment of dogs,” they are offering as proof of the military’s non abuse of

those animals, the statements of the military, Island officials and residents! I

sincerely doubt that they are going to readily admit to the cruelty, if it

exists!

Another statement that hardly proves anything is,

 

 

 

>>“When we were on the ship, we asked some soldiers about how the dogs have been

maintained in Wu-Chiou. The soldiers told us that generally those guard dogs

were very well looked after by the soldiers and they had never heard or seen

anyone abusing the dogs. Some soldiers even asked to take the dogs with them

when they retired from the army and left the island.”<<

 

 

 

The original allegations, described how compassionate soldiers were afraid to

talk about the severe cruelty of the Taiwan military, to homeless animals, for

fear of being punished by their commanding officers! Here are Taiwan government

officials asking soldiers about the cruelty!

 

 

 

There is nothing that I would like more, than to know that Taiwan is upholding

their Animal Protection laws. I have been very impressed with the Taiwan

government’s responses to my letters, and their seemingly strong desire to set

themselves apart, in every way, from other regions in Asia. If indeed, Taiwan

were to uphold their laws concerning the protection of their animals, they would

become a model for other Asian countries.

 

 

 

Elly Maynard also states;

 

 

>> It is also claimed that the allegations were

verified by the Humane Society International. This is

untrue. Both HSI and WSPA worked extensively with the ROC in the formulation of

that country's five year old Animal Protection Law and neither organization has

suggested that these allegations have any basis in fact.<<

 

This statement just shows that ITD and Elly Maynard

 

did not even attempt to verify the truth of their accusations!

 

It makes me sound extremely irresponsible in

claiming that the allegations were verified by HSI.

However, before I sent out the action alert, asking everyone

 

to write to the Taiwan government, I circulated an email which showed the HSI

response to my inquiry as to whether they were aware of this issue and if and

would help to stop this cruelty. At the very end of this email I pasted both of

those original emails.

 

I also wrote to WSPA a while ago, asking them if they can " verify " that this

issue didn't exist, but to this day, they never granted me the courtesy of a

reply.

 

 

 

To sum it all up, Elly Maynard states that her email is based on the report by

the ROC Council of Agriculture. Has anyone asked why she would issue a statement

that completely belittles my efforts to help those poor dogs, based on the

Taiwan government officials report?

 

Please check out the following site.

 

 

 

Groups say filthy markets up Taiwan's bird flu risk

 

Last Updated: 2003-02-26 13:00:28 -0400 (Reuters Health)

 

http://health_info.nmh.org/HealthNews/reuters/NewsStory0226200332.htm

 

 

 

which contain the following two statements;

 

" Most chickens' throats were cut by sharp knifes and were thrown into boiling

hot water for further molting before they died, " said Wu-hung Shih, an EAST

activist.

 

Activists urged the Control Yuan, the state's highest watchdog, to conduct an

investigation of the Cabinet's Council of Agriculture (COA) for neglecting its

duties. 2003-02-26

 

As much as I would like to think that the article

which claimed such cruelties was not based on facts, I

must be sure of this for the interests of animals.

 

 

 

From all the facts I have presented, I hope that everyone can see that this

issue is not settled, and anyone who cares about the animals, will not let it

rest until some tangible proof is given either way. My only concern is for the

animals, and I will not be satisfied until I am sure that dogs are not being

used as punching bags, or having plastic bags secured over their heads and set

on fire for the amusement of the soldiers/officers!

 

 

 

In closing, I can only ask everyone to judge for themselves, whether ITD and

Sirius were belittling serious animal protection efforts and to come to their

own conclusions as to why this has occurred. I also want to make sure that those

who try to undermine my reputation and would do me harm, because I presented the

facts, understand that they will not censure me when the welfare of animals are

involved.

 

 

 

Thanks for reading my reply and giving it your full consideration.

 

Rita

 

 

 

Following is the reply I received from HSI when I emailed them, to ask if they

were aware of this situation, and if they would help to stop it. Immediately

below that, is my original email to HSI.

 

As you will see, the reply from HSI DID seem to verify the allegations of

cruelty by the Taiwan military! Although later HSI denied that they were

verifying the allegations, they admitted that they should have worded the email

differently! Also, HSI has not even suggested that this issue is not true, they

can't comment either way, because they have no proof either way!

 

 

 

I want to be sure that everyone understands, that I do not hold HSI responsible

in anyway, for any misunderstanding which occurred.

 

 

 

----------------------

 

Dear Rita

 

Thank you for your email regarding the horrific cruelty to animals by the Taiwan

military. We are aware of the situation, and are doing what we can to help stop

it. Unfortunately, in countries where there is little or no animal protection

infrastructure, animals suffer many cruelties--from neglect to intentional

abuse. While HSI and other international organizations are making an impact on

animal protection issues in some regions of the world, government agencies in

other areas are often unwilling or reluctant to listen to our concerns. This is

particularly true in areas that suffer from severe economic problems or where

cultural attitudes are very different from our own.

 

You should also write a letter of protest to the Embassy of the Taiwan.

Sometimes, the strongest voice is that of a potential tourist, or individual who

refuses to visit the country and urges their friends and family to not visit

until the situation has been improved.

 

 

 

For a list of Embassies and Diplomatic offices around the world, go to Embassy

Web:

 

http://www.embpage.org/

 

 

 

Thank you.

 

 

 

Oulie Coulibaly

Humane Society International

2100 L Street, NW

Washington, DC 20037

301-548-7747 Fax: 301-258-3082

 

 

 

 

r.e.fazio

 

Wednesday, October 08, 2003 4:46 PM

hsi @ hsihsus.org

Online Form Submission: Humane Society International

 

 

Name = Rita Fazio

E-mail Address =

Address 1 =

Address 2 =

City =

State = PA

Zip =

Phone =

Country = USA

Message = Hi, I was reading how the HS International has helped Taiwan to become

more humane in it's treatment of homeless animals and was wondering if you are

aware of the horrific cruelty to homeless animals by the Taiwan military.

Following is a paragraph from a web site which describes the severely cruel

treatment of homeless animals by the military. " TAIWAN MILITARY ROUTINELY ABUSE

DOGS FOR PLEASURE Reported by Bing-Yu Chiu of Taipei News, translated by Joey

Lau

 

It is a normal sight in Wu-Chiou, Taiwan that soldiers capturing stray dogs and

tie them up to punch as sandbags; covering the dogs' heads with plastic bags and

set the bags on fire, watching the bags shrink as the chemical burn and stick

onto the dogs' faces, entertaining themselves laughing at the whining and crying

and screaming dogs.

 

" The entire article is at: http://www.ahan.org/ahan/pages/taiwan.html

 

I am initiating a writing campaign to the government and military leaders of

Taiwan to try to get them to put an end to this sick behavior. I am hoping that

the HS International will help us to stop this atrocity from continuing. I look

forward to your reply. Thank you for your time.

 

Rita Fazio

 

 

 

 

Rita Fazio,

 

Korea Animal Protection Society (KAPS)

International Aid for Korean Animals (IAKA)

http://www.koreananimals.org/index.htm

 

 

Don't turn your back upon their pain, because it's hard to see.They have no

other place to turn, They've only you and me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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