Students Urge Slaughter Ban

Last week, roughly a dozen people in Taipei presented a petition to Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture urging a ban on poultry slaughter in traditional markets. Students and faculty from the Taipei City Wenshan Community College and members of activist group Environmental and Animal Society of Taiwan say that the ban would help prevent the spread of avian influenza and would improve animal welfare. Activists say that a prohibition on slaughtering poultry in traditional markets was supposed to be implemented in 2008, but was postponed and later cancelled. According to the Taipei Times, the activists say they may take legal action if the council’s formal reply doesn’t offer solutions to their issues.