Premier Su Tseng-chang says the risk of rabies was behind authorities’ decision on Saturday to euthanize 154 cats discovered in an anti-smuggling operation
The animals were found in cages aboard a ship from China, and included popular breeds such as the Ragdoll, Persian American Shorthair, British Shorthair and Russian Blue.
Animal rights activists have spoken out against the mass euthanization, calling it inhumane.
Premier Su Tseng-chang said on Monday that the cats came from China where rabies is endemic and rampant. As the incubation period for rabies is especially long and the disease is hard to detect, they were put down to protect animals and people in Taiwan.
Su says Taiwan has 1.5 million pet dogs and 1.7 million pet cats. He says officials could not risk letting rabies into the country, as the mortality rate for the disease is virtually 100% once clinical symptoms appear. He says that it was a very unfortunate situation.
Su says previous experiences with foot-and-mouth disease have shown that strict border controls are essential. Pigs smuggled into Taiwan from China caused an outbreak of the disease 24 years ago. That outbreak eventually led to the slaughter of four million pigs in Taiwan.
The premier says that the smugglers will face the strictest punishment possible and authorities will revoke their licences.
President Tsai Ing-wen, who owns two cats, said on Saturday that she was saddened by the government's decision to euthanize the animals. She says the government will consider amending the law so that smuggled animals can be treated more humanely. She also says it was due to the selfishness of the smugglers that those lives were lost.