The Macau Jockey Club (MJC), which ceased operations on 1 April, is scheduled to return its expansive Taipa site to the government at the beginning of next month. In a bid to find homes for its resident “working cats,” the MJC and Anima Macau collaborated on a cat adoption event at the Taipa location on Sunday, Macau Post Daily reports. Anima president Zoe Tang Tinna described a positive public response, with 22 cats finding new families during the event.
Prior to this, volunteers had organized a four-day adoption drive for 10 of the felines. A subsequent social media announcement revealed that over 100 cats would be left in need of homes, with the MJC initially planning to rehome them on the mainland.
The Facebook post ignited significant public debate online, with residents contacting lawmakers and TVB’s Scoop programme to keep the cats in Macao if possible. Among those responding, Macau Post Daily reports, was former Hong Kong celebrity and current solicitor Mary Jean Reimer, who offered to temporarily shelter all 100 unadopted cats.
[See more: Macao’s horse racing era draws to a close as the curtain falls on the Macau Jockey Club]
On Friday morning, the MJC issued a press release, stating its commitment to fulfilling its social responsibility by properly handling the cats, including providing long-term rehousing and care in Zhuhai. Concurrently, Macao’s Municipal Affairs Bureau (known by its Portuguese initials IAM) released a statement indicating it had been monitoring the transfer and rehousing of the animals since April last year. The IAM detailed the health quarantine measures implemented, including microchip implantation, rabies vaccinations, and clinical examinations, as well as arranging necessary health certificates for exporting the cats.
However, later on Friday, Anima announced that the transfer of the cats to the mainland had been suspended following coordination with the MJC and IAM. Instead, the cats are to be taken in by several animal protection groups in Macao, with any remaining unadopted to be cared for at a location provided by Reimer, Macau Post Daily says.
The MJC issued a follow-up press release confirming its agreement with Anima to co-organize the adoption activities. The MJC has also highlighted its ongoing efforts to provide medical care, including trapping, desexing, microchipping, and vaccinating the cats under the IAM’s guidance.
The first draft of this story was edited by AI and then cross-checked for accuracy by an editor.
