“I think in Taiwan you either love dogs or you do not care for them,” Mary Choi says. Choi is the founder of Mary’s Doggies, a dog rescue nonprofit in Taiwan that works to find stray dogs loving families – often in countries like the U.S.

Taiwan is home to thousands of stray dogs, known as “tugous” (土狗). Often they are Formosan Mountain Dog, a breed native to Taiwan. In this episode, Albert Chang-Yoo joins Choi and a group of volunteers at Taoyuan International Airport to find out what it's like to transport these dogs to their newly adopted homes abroad.

Albert Chang-Yoo is a graduate student at the International Master's Program in International Communication Studies (IMICS) at National Chengchi University (NCCU).

“Speak Up” is a podcast program by College of Communication students at National Chengchi University in Taipei, Taiwan. Season 1 episodes are student work from the class, “Podcasting: Audio Journalism & Branded Podcasts” in Spring 2026. Supervising teacher is adjunct associate professor Emily Y. Wu.

Music credit: Jester, Parade, and Grief Podington Bear on Free Music Archive dot org.