Animal protection group Anima is studying the feasibility of sending the over 500 greyhounds left behind at the Canidrome to the US and Europe by charter planes, its president, Albano Martins, said in a statement Sunday.
Martins said that lawmaker-cum-gaming executive Angela Leong On Kei, who ran the now defunct greyhound racetrack operation, “has informed me that she will pay all the costs”.
The racetrack run by Macau (Yat Yuen) Canidrome Co. Ltd. closed for good on July 20. The government had informed the company of the termination of its betting concession in July 2018 two years ago.
Martins had told the Portuguese-language TV channel of government-owned broadcaster TDM on Friday that Anima was considering moving the about 500 greyhounds from the old racetrack kennels to a 7,700-square-metre plot of land at the Concordia Industrial Park in Coloane.
Martins said the plot was suitable for the construction of temporary kennels which would not require approval by the Lands, Public Works and Sports Bureau (DSSOPT).
Earlier last week, the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) said in a statement that it found a proposal by Yat Yuen “feasible” to move the greyhounds from the kennels of the Canidrome to 11 “residential spaces”.
According to an IACM statement late last month, 533 greyhounds were left behind in the Canidrome kennels after the dog-racing concession had expired.
According to TDM news last week, the 11 units are owned by Leong.
Initially, on July 27, Anima and Yat Yuen announced during a press conference their joint plan to move the greyhounds to a vacant factory building in Pac On in Taipa. However, bureaucratic hurdles appear to have halted the Pac On project at least temporarily. Like Concordia, Pac On is a failed industrial park project.
The Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau last week allowed Yat Yuen to keep the 533 greyhounds at the Canidrome kennels for 60 days.
According to Martin’s statement, “Anima is responsible for all Canidrome management except all things related to desex[ing] and vet treatment” which are the responsibility of IACM officials.
Martins also said that Yat Yuen continued to be responsible for paying all the bills and supplying staff to help with the handling of the greyhounds and paying all cleaning bills or whatever is necessary to keep the space [Canidrome kennels] with the dignity we want.”
(Photo by Aria Hangyu Chen -Time)
