Two dog adoption events were held at the Everyone Stray Dogs Macau Volunteer Group (ESDMVG) canine shelter on Saturday and Sunday. This was the 2nd “Caring Adoption Day” organised by the group during the COVID-19 epidemic, according to its Facebook page.
According to the FB page, Caring Adoption Day restarted on April 25 after it had been suspended in line with the government’s COVID-19 epidemic prevention measures. About 60 dogs were up for adoption at the two events.
Chan In Cheng, president of the group, told The Macau Post Daily on the sidelines of Saturday’s Caring Adoption Day that it was safe to resume the event since Macau then had had no new confirmed COVID-19 cases for 28 consecutive days. “The event runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day and each adoption session lasts for an hour and is limited to 10 possible adopters,” Chan said.
Chan pointed out that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has never said that animals can be infected with the novel coronavirus and later pass on the virus to people. She emphasised that the public are now well educated in keeping their home and pets clean. “Particularly after going out, we need to wash our hands and need to clean our pets’ paws,” she said.
Chan pointed out that it is the owners’ responsibility “not to abandon their dogs in any circumstances” and urged the public to respect every life.
Chan added: “It is crucially important that we [her group] find good matches for the dogs. Adopters need to meet requirements such as their own character and living environment in order to match the character and the type of dog they want to adopt”.
A male participant surnamed Lo told The Macau Post Daily during Saturday’s event at the dog shelter that he didn’t consider the COVID-19 epidemic a factor in adopting a dog.
Lo said he knew through TV news that some cats and dogs in Hong Kong and the United States have been infected with the coronavirus. However, he said he did not believe animals can spread the novel coronavirus to humans.
Another participant surnamed Ma told The Macau Post Daily that it was unreasonable to abandon a dog just because it might be infected with the novel coronavirus. Ma said: “I hope to give a home to the homeless dogs and that’s why I came to here”.
A young female participant surnamed Lau told The Macau Post Daily that she did not mind the breed of the dogs up for adoption. She saw videos of a dog on the ESDMVG Facebook page and noticed one named Kumataro she really likes. Therefore she came to visit and interact with him to build up a relationship first.
Visitors were required to wear facemasks, have their temperatures checked, put on hand sanitizer, provide their health declaration and wear slippers when entering the venue. The group is understood to prefer that the location of the dog shelter not be released to the general public.
ESDMVG is a non-profit organisation and welcomes donations. For enquiries, please visit FB: https://www.facebook.com/esdmvg/posts/.
(The Macau Post Daily/Macau News)
PHOTO © The Macau Post Daily
