Almost 700 stray cats and dogs were adopted in Macao last year, the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) has announced.
The IAM cooperates with local animal protection groups to promote the concepts of protecting animals, neutering as soon as possible, zero abandonment, no stocking and adoption instead of purchase, so as to raise public awareness of the Animal Protection Law and the Animal Epidemic Prevention Law.
With continuous legal education, the number of animal adoptions has also increased year by year. In 2021, 671 stray cats and dogs were adopted and taken back, accounting for about 82 per cent of the total, a significant increase from less than half before the Animal Protection Law came into effect.
In 2021, the municipal kennels captured and received 822 animals. Based on s humanitarianism, critical illnesses and inability of animals to survive naturally, 111 stray animals were assessed by veterinarians to end their lives. During the year, the municipal kennel injected a total of 7,375 doses of vaccinations into animals, implanted microchips into 2,459 animals, performed sterilisation operations on 1,284 animals, and provided animal medical and surgical services for a total of 6,785 times.
All municipal parks in Macao suffer the problem of food left by citizens to feed stray animals. In addition to the food for cats and dogs, there is even raw meat, which has an strong smell and encourages mosquitoes and rodents, which seriously affects the environmental sanitation of the parks. The IAM has to arrange for special personnel to inspect and clean up the parks every day. Last year, more than 17,400 food residues weighing more than five tons were cleaned up.
The IAM said that it understands citizens’ concern and love for stray animals, but the relevant behaviour violated the “General Regulations of Public Localities”. The large amount of food left has seriously affected environmental hygiene, and it is not conducive to the overall epidemic prevention work in Macao. The IAM will continue to promote caring for animals, the responsibility of owners, non-stocking, and sterilisation of animals as soon as possible through publicity, so as to reduce the generation of stray animals from the source.
In many municipal parks in Macao, such as Guia Municipal Park, Dr. Sun Yat Sen Municipal Park and Mong-ha Hill Municipal Park, citizens have long been feeding stray animals in different locations and they have not cleaned up afterwards.
The IAM has arranged for special personnel to inspect and clean up the parks every day. However, due to the many hidden feeding points, it takes a lot of manpower and material resources. Songshan Municipal Park needs to be cleaned three times a day, and each time takes two hours.
The IAM emphasised that the animal management work in Macao has always been based on the principle of improving animal welfare and health, stressing owners’ responsibility, maintaining community public health and public safety, and preventing stray animals from affecting the ecological environment.
After the animals are captured and received in the municipal kennel, veterinarians conduct health tests to prevent infectious diseases and parasites, vaccinate them, implant microchips, sterilise them after evaluation, and then offer them up for adoption.
