Macau (Yat Yuen) Canidrome Co Ltd has asked Macau’s gaming regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), to approve a 120-day extension for the use of facilities at its controversial dog racing track after the 20 July deadline for closure.
The request forms part of the company’s official plan for the re-homing of 650 greyhounds submitted to the government this week. Macau (Yat Yuen) Canidrome Co Ltd has also proposed a back-up plan that would see it use empty stables at Macau Jockey Club for the temporary housing of greyhounds.
The impending closure of the Canidrome follows an ultimatum from the Macau SAR government in 2016 that the Canidrome must either shut down or relocate by this July and that it needed to vastly improve its animal welfare standards should it choose to continue operations at a new location. Macau (Yat Yuen) Canidrome Co Ltd’s owner, SJM Co-Chairman and Executive Director Angela Leong, confirmed in January this year that the venue would close down permanently come 20 July rather than seek a new home.
In a Wednesday statement, the DICJ said that because the 120-day extension request did not involve holding any further races at the Canidrome, any decision on the request no longer came under its jurisdiction. It has instead forwarded Macau (Yat Yuen) Canidrome Co Ltd’s documents to the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau for consideration.
“As for the application of the Canidrome to use Macau Jockey Club as a temporary home, the application must be made by Macau Jockey Club to the authority for the supervision of land use and must be approved by the authority responsible for animal protection and management,” the DICJ said.
According to the Canidrome, only 127 adoption requests for its greyhounds have been received so far.
