The president of the Animal Protection Society of Macau (ANIMA), Albano Martins, demands a televised public debate in order to decide the future use of the Canidrome. Mr. Martins told Business Daily, as he considers it to be a “waste of public funds”. He then reiterated his request that the government “have the political courage to face the people who have very important roles in the local economy that keep the Canidrome running.” This statement comes after ANIMA sent public letters requesting a public open debate in May – hosted by local public broadcaster TDM – to several parties: Lei Chi Man, Executive Director of Macau (Yat Yuen) Canidrome Company Ltd., which is responsible for track management, and to Josephine Lau, Vice President of the Macau Abandoned Animals Protection Association (AAPAM). The letter was also forwarded to Lionel Leong Vai Tac, Secretary for Economy and Finance. All for animal protection In the letters Martins accused the AAPAM of co-organising events with the Canidrome, even after a report by the South China Morning Post revealed that the race track had killed 383 underperforming dogs in 2010, and criticised the greyhound adoption scheme which he labels ineffectual. “We haven’t received any response yet for our debate request, but the truth is that no dog gets adopted there. Any dog that enters only comes out dead and we’ll keep fighting any imports of greyhounds from abroad,” Mr. Martins told Business Daily. In response to Business Daily’s enquiry, the AAPAM declared it had no knowledge of the request for a televised debate and said more information is needed before any decision can be made about the Canidrome. “We need to decide what to do if a place with history in Macau is to be shut down: where to put the dogs, how to use the terrain. And before defending any position, we need to know more about the issue. What about the horses? It’s not just dogs, and that’s why we want the government to pass the Animal Protection Law,” an AAPAM spokesperson told Business Daily. On April 30, AAPAM will hold a protest in partnership with animal rights associations in Hong Kong and Taiwan in order to demand the passing of the Animal Protection Law in Macau, aiming to extend cruelty to any animal as punishable by imprisonment. Dog deficit The ANIMA president also criticised the study ordered by Secretary Lionel Leong from the University of Macau Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming, which will help the government decide whether to renew or scrap the existing concession for Macau (Yat Yuen) Canidrome. The study, which began last November, is expected to be finished this year and will ‘focus on the importance and influence of the Canidrome on the territory as a World Centre for Tourism and Leisure’, as stated by Lionel Leong previously. “So now ANIMA believes a public debate is the best way for the public to see where the voice of reason lies,” Martins added. “You [the Canidrome] have a contract, which we believe was wrongfully made, where taxes are reduced, meaning more waste of public funds,“ Mr. Martins told Business Daily, adding that the race track area should be converted into a community park without any building construction so that it could serve “one of the most densely populated areas in the world.” In 2015, the Canidrome generated MOP125 million (US$15.6 million) in gross gaming revenues, around 0.05 per cent of the MOP231.81 billion generated by the whole of the gaming industry in Macau, per data provided by the Gaming Inspection and Co-ordination Bureau (DICJ). Business Daily has contacted DICJ for more details regarding the gaming concession and sought a comment but received no reply by the time the story went to print.
—
