U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who raised a lamb named "Susie" in his farmhouse in the 1960s, said Wednesday he doesn't want cats and dogs slaughtered for meat in the United States. But U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron, is opposing a federal ban on the killing of dogs and cats for human consumption, while two other Iowans in Congress — Reps. David Young, R-Van Meter, and Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa City — are co-sponsors of legislation supporting such a prohibition. Grassley, a New Hartford Republican, was asked during his weekly teleconference with Iowa reporters about provisions in House and Senate versions of the Farm Bill pending in Washington, D.C., that would prohibit the slaughter of dogs or cats for human consumption. The provisions would also ban the transport of dogs or cats, or dog or cat parts, for human consumption. Grassley, a lifelong farmer, initially suggested he opposed such a ban, saying he has supported the slaughter of horses because people in some places in the world, such as Europe, may want to eat horse meat. "I don't want horse meat. I don't want dog meat. I don't want to eat cats, but if somebody wants to eat them, let them eat them," the senator said. But Grassley phoned the Des Moines Register shortly after the teleconference call to clarify his remarks. He proceeded to tell a story of how he doesn't even eat lamb meat, explaining how there were triplets in his farm's lamb flock in 1967 and one lamb named Susie had to be raised in his house. Susie lived to be 12 years old, but even when she was older, she wanted to come into the house, he said.
The country’s legislature passed a legal amendment to the Animal Protection Act state that offenders could be punished with a monetary fine of NTD 50,000 to $2 million (A$2178 to $87080). The amendment's sponsor, Kuomintang Legislator Wang Yu-min, said that while some localities already had measures banning dog and cat meat consumption, national legislation was needed. Several other amendments were also passed, in a step towards making the country more animal friendly. Stiffer punishments will be enforced for those who intentionally harm animals which include a maximum of two years’ imprisonment and fines of between NT$200,000 and NT$2 million. Pet owners will now be penalized if they are seen with their leashed dogs running alongside their scooters. It is now illegal to ‘walk’ animals via motor vehicles with offenders facing possible fines up to NT$15,000. Before taking effect, the amendments still need to be signed into law by the Cabinet and Presidential Office, which could take place before the end of the month. The amendments come in response to several high-profile incidents of animal cruelty. Just last year, a video went viral of a group of Taiwanese marines viciously beating a dog before hanging it and throwing its lifeless body into the ocean, triggering an investigation and sparking public protests. Last October, Chan Ho-yeung – a student from Macau studying in Taiwan – was sentenced to 10 months in prison after being convicted of killing two stray cats.
Taiwanese photographer Tou Chih-kang and his assistant steady a scared dog for a portrait in a makeshift studio during the final moments of its life before being put down by lethal injection at a shelter in Taoyuan.
A dog stands on a scooter with his owners as they wait at an intersection in Taipei, Taiwan.
Tourists stop to view one of the hundred or so resident cats resting on a wall in the small town of Houtong, Taiwan.
