by Angela Tsai
At the end of March, three stray dogs were found seriously injured by some type of acid, and then three students at NTU took them to a nearby veterinary. When the news was reported on TV and in the newspaper, the problem of stray dogs finally captured NTU students’ attention. Like what Wu Hsu Yu (吳 書 宇), one of the three students who took the dogs to the veterinarian, said, “It’s a tough problem!” When discussing how to treat those dogs in NTU dormitories and on campus, we should try to understand what a complicated situation we’re facing. Some people concentrate on the issue of respect for life while the others are concerned more about the environment and sanitary conditions. Even students and the school authorities think of this issue in different ways. Students may want to keep stray dogs out of sympathy and humanity, but school authorities worry about budgeting and who is going to take care of the dogs on a permanent basis. Although each of these aspects has its importance and should not be ignored, it’s almost impossible to come to a perfect solution that meets every demand. However, to keep stray dogs on campus or in dorms is a debatable question. For example, can students afford expense of dog food and doctor’s fees? The dogs would need to have shots to prevent contagious diseases if we want them to live in the dorm. Besides, we also have to have them spayed or neutered, or we will have more and more puppies. Furthermore, if we take in stray dogs which have already been living on campus for a long time, what about ones which come later? In fact, stray dogs can come in and out the school freely because no one guards other entrances besides the main gate. What’s worse, our campus is open to everyone, not only to students and teachers, so what can we do if people abandon their dogs on our campus? Maybe we can forbid people to walk their dogs here, but can we check every car strictly before it enters our school? And who can take care of those dogs during summer or winter vacation while students are away? At the beginning of April, the Animal Protection Club (懷 生 社) asked students to sign a petition voicing their concern over this problem, and the Department of Zoology (動 物 系) also worked hard to set up a Co-raising project (共 養 制) to offer good care for dogs. They believe that only by setting up a complete system for raising dogs and forbidding others to walk dogs at NTU can our campus avoid being responsible for every abandoned dog. They also consider the way we treat stray dogs now-letting them die if no one adopts them-is inhumane. In addition, the cost for catching a dog is NT 1000. Though Mr. 費 昌 勇, a professor in the Department of Veterinary Medicine, has set up a team – 愛 心 補 犬 隊 – to catch the dogs, it seems only to improve the problem for the present, not permanently.. Therefore, students from Department of Zoology asked the school authorities to hold a public hearing to figure out a way to help the dogs. After all, if any system or project wants to be carried out thoroughly and successfully, it needs the school’s enforcement and support. Let’s come back to the three injured dogs. After Wu Hsu Yu looked for adopters and medical financial support on the Internet, two of them were adopted by people who live in the NTU neighborhood, and the other one is still in the hospital. Wu Hsu Yu admits that the medical expense is a heavy burden, which is more than what a student can afford. If you would like to have the dog or donate money, please contact him– 吳 書 宇, 動 物 系 三, 428. a
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The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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