Please, let the dogs out

The Society for the Protection of Animals (Anima) is expecting a response from Legislator and Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM) Managing Director Angela Leong, regarding its demand to release all the dogs racing at the Macau Yat Yuen Canidrome, in anticipation of the termination of the group’s land contract in July 2018.
The request was made in a letter delivered to Mrs. Leong, who also holds the position of Canidrome Chairperson, on May 26, with TDM news reporting on the matter on Sunday.
In the letter that Anima’s President, Albano Martins, shared with Business Daily, the association requests that Mrs. Leong release all the dogs to Anima. Speaking with Business Daily, Mr. Martins notes that he expects Mrs. Leong to cooperate with them.
“I think [Leong] would be interested in donating the dogs to Anima. I even think it would be a good gesture for someone who is a candidate for a seat at the Legislative Assembly. Because a person who treats animals badly does not treat people nicely. This is a message that I would like to pass on,” he said.
Mr. Martins further said that this is the first time the association has reached out to Angela Leong in her position as Chairperson of the Canidrome. Previous requests have been made to the Macau Government, but Anima’s President said these requests have always been met with “silence” on the part of public authorities.
In the letter, Anima further requests the local government to enable them ‘to run the Canidrome premises for one year, after it finishes its activity or whenever it decides to close the business.’
Their aim in requesting this is to allow an adoption programme to be put in place, Mr. Martins explained.
Anima’s president states that the Canidrome currently owns some 650 dogs, over 500 of which are indirectly owned by gamblers.
“Some of the owners of these dogs have already said that they would like the animals to be delivered to us,” Mr. Martins said.
Above all, he added, “we don’t want that the possibility of having those dogs racing illegally in China is created. And at the same time, we wish to avoid that they end up in a cooking pot. The picture that it would create for the image of Macau is very bad if the greyhound dogs are sent to China.”
In the written letter delivered to the Canidrome Chairperson, Anima further claimed that ‘the transfer of all those dogs to Anima, free of any charge for [the] organization, will be made also without any future costs for Canidrome, as [Anima] will keep all animals and pay all future bills.”
This newspaper made enquiries to the Canidrome on this matter but had not received any reply by the time this story went to print.