Allegations of animal abuse
SJM Managing Director and Chief Administrative Officer Angela Leong says she will see that hundreds of racing greyhounds at her Canidrome dog track in Macau’s Fai Chi Kei district will have new homes when the facility closes July 21.
According to the Macau Post Daily, the lawmaker said, “I believe that the dogs are now living well and the owners of those dogs love and care about their dogs.” In addition to falling revenues—GGR from greyhound racing declined 13.8 percent year-on-year in 2015 to MOP$125 million—the track is closing due to increased concerns about animal welfare. Inside Asian Gaming cited reports that 400 racing dogs are killed in Macau each year for losing at the track.
Though animal lovers reportedly want to relocate the greyhounds from Macau to Portugal, Leong said it’s not necessary. She told the Post that she will recruit her friends to help her rehome the dogs.
In July 2016, government officials told racetrack operator Macau (Yat Yuen) Canidrome Co. Ltd. to vacate the property, a public land concession, within two years. The company’s concession to run greyhound racing will expire on July 20 this year.
Leong is head of the company, which last year announced a plan to replace local greyhound races with live broadcasts of overseas races and virtual races in order to “preserve its legacy.”
“After a long and careful consideration, the company proposes to create a system of racing visualization abroad, allowing Macau and its visitors to follow up on international greyhound racing,” the company said at the time.
