The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) is reminding residents not to feed stray animals, after it disposed of almost 17,000 bags of food scraps that people left for stray dogs and cats between the start of 2024 and the end of March this year. That’s equivalent to over 5 tonnes of food, with nearly 1.7 tons of food scraps left in Mong Ha Hill park alone.
According to the IAM, feeding animals in such a way is not permitted under law and can lead to environmental contamination and issues with pests.
The issue of feeding stray animals in Macao has come into greater focus in recent days following an incident in which a 61-year-old woman was bitten by a stray dog in Coloane’s Rua Marginal da Concórdia.
Local broadcaster TDM spoke with residents and community representatives, including the head of the Coloane Son I Charity Association, Ieong Keng Koi, who said that many people leave food for strays, causing stray populations to increase, annoying residents and even posing a threat to road users.
[See more: 2024 has been the worst year for pet abandonment, says animal welfare campaigner]
He called on authorities to address the issue and have the strays captured.
Another Coloane resident, with the surname Lee, told TDM that a couple days ago some six or more stray dogs were attacking his cats, and that a stray had previously killed two of his cats.
Chan In Cheng, the chair of the volunteer group of Everyone Stray Dogs Macao, an animal protection organisation, spoke to TDM about some of the reasons that led to homeless dogs attacking people, explaining that they were traumatised animals acting out of fear or hunger.
Chan hopes that authorities will release an official count of stray animals in the city and also offered suggestions on what could be done to tackle the problem. Shelters for stray animals as well as electronic feeders could be set up in areas where strays lived, Chan said.
