The problem of pet abandonment in Macao has reached a breaking point, according to Chan In Cheng. The president of local animal welfare group, Everyone Stray Dogs Macau, told local media that “in my decade-long volunteering experience, this year’s situation is the worst.”
The extent of the problem is difficult to quantify. But figures from the Division of Animal Inspection and Control indicate that while the number of stray cats captured during the first four months of this year fell by 10 percent year-on-year to 148, the number of captured stray dogs totalled 218 – an increase of around 91 percent.
Exotic pets such as alligator snapping turtles and iguanas have also been dumped, with little chance of survival.
[See more: This is the worst year to be a stray cat since 2007]
Chan said pet owners might “abandon their pets on a hill, thinking that they are just letting them go, but the truth is, they are letting their pets die.”
Speaking to TDM on the sidelines of a pet fair yesterday, she advised potential pet owners to conduct adequate research before purchasing one, as rearing a pet can be “a life-long commitment.”
There is some good news, however. There were 72 dog adoptions and 107 cat adoptions from government pounds in the initial four months of this year, a year-on-year increase of around 11 percent and 27 percent respectively.
