Official proposes adoption or relocation
The Macau (Yat Yuen) Canidrome Co. dog racing track must cease operations in full by the deadline of July 21, according to José Tavares da Silva, president of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau.
“I don’t have the power to extend the deadline for one single day more. The IACM has no powers to extend the usage of the Canidrome facilities,” he said.
Approximately 600 racing greyhounds must also vacate the premises by that date, he emphasized. The Canindrome asked for an extension of the exit date of one year, a request Tavares called “unacceptable.”
“I am open to discuss the matter, 10 days, 15 days, but this is wasting time for preparing the resettlement of the dogs, because the deadline is fixed,” he told the Macau News Agency. “The animals have to undergo blood test and quarantine before they can ‘leave’ the company, and this has to be done on time. We are talking about months. So the company will have to think, find a way of first resettling the dogs on temporary facilities to allow time to sort out these procedures.”
The company has submitted plans to resettle the greyhounds or adopt them out. Tavares said both solutions are “viable” if they comport with animal welfare rules.
