Chu Tzeng-hung, chairman of the Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST) , released the findings of the organization's study of slaughterhouses around the country conducted over a three-year period dating back to 2004.

After watching a video made by the EAST about how Taiwan's slaughterhouses kill their pigs, several lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union promised to propose an amendment to the Animal Protection Law so as to bring animals raised for economic purposes under the law's protection.

According to Tzeng, only six of the 27 public slaughterhouses around Taiwan kill their pigs in a humane way, namely by making the pigs lose consciousness with an electric shock so that they feel no pain when they are slaughtered.

The pigs at the other slaughterhouses are killed in a cruel manner, Tzeng said, explaining that the pigs are first hung upside down by one of their legs and then beaten unconscious with a stick before being slaughtered.

At the press conference, several of the woman lawmakers were brought to tears while watching the video on how cruelly the animals are treated.

Hsiao Bi-khim, a DPP legislator, said that as a ruling party lawmaker, she feels ashamed that the government has failed to punish the owners of the slaughterhouses that treat the animals so mercilessly. She promised to work with other lawmakers to push for an amendment to the Animal Protection Law to bring animals raised for economic purposes under the law's protection.