DOGGIE HEAVEN? Hsinchu officials discussed how to properly dispose of beloved family pets, which are categorized as ‘trash,’ as the number of owners grows

Taipei Times
Date:  Nov 11, 2019
By: Huang Mei-chu and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Hsinchu County Councilor Tu Wen-chung (杜文中) has proposed designating an area at the Hsinchu Life Memorial Park that would be used as a pet cemetery.

Tu said it is quite common these days for families to have no children or fewer children, compared to several generations ago. However, these families may then own pets instead.

A pet cemetery would allow pets to pass on with dignity and remain close to their families, Tu said.

“It would be a form of life education,” he said.

Hsinchu County’s Animal Disease Control Center director Peng Cheng-yu (彭正宇) said that by law, animals are not considered “people,” but categorized as “things,” adding that under the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法), animal corpses are handled as “trash.”    [FULL  STORY]