On 11 April 2017 Taiwan's legislature, the Legislative Yuan, passed amendments to the Animal Protection Act that made it illegal across the island to sell, buy or eat dog and cat meat, including food products that contain any part of those animals. Reports at the time put the fines for these offences at NT$50,000 to NT$250,000, roughly US$1,600 to US$8,200 at 2017 exchange rates, and the law also allows offenders' names and photographs to be made public. The same package sharply increased penalties for deliberate cruelty to animals.
Taiwan was widely described as the first country in Asia to ban eating dogs and cats. That needs a small qualification, explained below, but the law was still a landmark in the region. Here is what changed, how Taiwan got there, and where the issue stands elsewhere in Asia.
What the 2017 amendments did
Before 2017, Taiwan already prohibited the slaughter and sale of dog meat, but the law was patchy and some local governments had gone further than others. The amendments, pushed by Kuomintang legislator Wang Yu-min, closed the gaps and applied one rule nationwide:
- Buying, selling or eating dog or cat meat, or products made from them, became an offence punishable by a fine.
- People convicted could have their names and photos published as a deterrent.
- Intentionally harming a dog or cat so that it loses a limb, suffers organ failure or dies now carries up to two years in prison and a fine of up to NT$2 million, double the previous maximums of one year and NT$1 million.
As with any bill, the amendments then needed the cabinet and the presidential office to sign off before taking effect. Later accounts sometimes give slightly different fine ranges, so anyone needing the exact legal wording should check the current text of the Animal Protection Act.
How Taiwan reached this point
The 2017 change was the latest step in a long shift. Taiwan first banned the sale of dog meat in 2001, partly under pressure from animal welfare groups and partly to improve its international image. A 2007 law raised fines for sellers considerably. Activists nonetheless complained that enforcement was weak and that some restaurants kept serving dog meat quietly.
Public attitudes were moving faster than enforcement. Pet ownership grew steadily, and high-profile cruelty cases shocked the public. In one case widely reported in 2016, a former university student was jailed for ten months for killing stray cats. By the time the amendments came to a vote, eating dogs and cats was a fringe practice and the political argument was largely about how strongly to punish it.
Was Taiwan really the first in Asia?
Strictly speaking, Hong Kong got there earlier in part. Its Dogs and Cats Ordinance of January 1950, introduced under British rule, made it illegal to slaughter dogs or cats for food, with fines and jail as penalties. Hong Kong's law targets slaughter, however, not eating, which is why Taiwan was often called the first place in Asia, or in East Asia, to outlaw the consumption itself. Both descriptions are fair as long as the difference is clear.
The president and Taiwan's pet culture
Tsai Ing-wen, president from 2016 to 2024, made no secret of being an animal lover. During her campaign she was known for her two cats, and after taking office she adopted three retired guide dogs. Her public image helped keep animal welfare in the news, but the dog and cat meat amendments were a legislative initiative, backed across party lines, rather than a presidential decree. It is more accurate to see her support as part of a wider change in Taiwanese attitudes than as its cause.
Elsewhere in Asia
Mainland China has no national law that explicitly bans eating dog or cat meat. The annual dog meat festival in Yulin, in the Guangxi region, has drawn global protests for years. Animal welfare groups have often estimated that around 10,000 dogs were killed there each year, a figure the local authorities have disputed. After international pressure, the Yulin government said it would no longer officially host the event or allow public slaughter, and a petition against it gathered about 11 million signatures. Our earlier story on a man who saved 1,000 dogs at the Yulin meat festival covers one rescue there.
The biggest change since Taiwan's law came in South Korea, whose National Assembly voted in January 2024 to end the breeding, slaughter and sale of dogs for meat, with a phase-out period running to 2027. In Vietnam and parts of Indonesia, local authorities in some cities have also discouraged or restricted the trade, though practice varies widely.
Photographs from the campaigns
The pictures below come from news agencies and animal welfare groups that documented the dog and cat meat trade and the campaigns against it.
AFP/ Ed Jones
A dog looks out between the rusted bars of a cage. Images like this, taken by AFP photographer Ed Jones, became a familiar symbol for campaigners in the region.
Animals Asia
A lorry stacked with crates of live dogs, photographed by the charity Animals Asia. Long-distance transport in crowded cages is one of the main welfare concerns raised about the trade.
Asia Wire
A small poodle stands in front of protest boards showing caged animals. Street exhibitions like this were a common way for activists to bring the issue to passers-by.
AFP
A worker in protective clothing handles a dog during an inspection. Hygiene and disease control, including rabies risk, are among the public health arguments made against the unregulated meat trade.
AP Photo/Wally Santana
A dog waits in a numbered kennel in a Taiwanese animal shelter, with its record card clipped to the bars. Shelter conditions and adoption rates have been part of the same welfare debate in Taiwan.
AP Photo/Wally Santana
A cat rests on a blanket in a cage at an adoption event in Taiwan. Campaigners hoped the law would encourage people to see cats and dogs firmly as companions.
Soi Dog Foundation
Dogs packed tightly into a wire cage, photographed by the Soi Dog Foundation, a Thailand-based charity that has campaigned against the cross-border dog meat trade in Southeast Asia.
AP/Chiang Ying-ying
An activist holds a black dog at a demonstration in Taiwan, beside a banner with an image of a caged animal. Protests like this helped keep pressure on lawmakers in the run-up to the 2017 vote.
Sources: CNBC / Reuters: Pets not food, Taiwan to ban eating, selling of dog and cat meat (12 April 2017); Wikipedia: Dog meat consumption in Taiwan; Animals Asia on Flickr. Original report by Katerina Papakyriakopoulou. Photos: AFP/Ed Jones, Animals Asia, Asia Wire, AFP, AP/Wally Santana, Soi Dog Foundation, AP/Chiang Ying-ying.
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