Anima: Proposed IAM bill could lead to shut down of slaughterhouses

Anima: Proposed IAM bill could lead
to shut down of slaughterhouses

Animal rights activist Albano Martins said that the Municipal Affairs Bureau’s (IAM) proposed bill to euthanize animals as a last resort to prevent animal diseases could be a way of achieving its goal of shutting down the city’s slaughterhouses.

On Wednesday, Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan and IAM representatives presented the veterinary disease prevention bill, which suggested that IAM authorize the right to euthanize animals when necessary.

Speaking to the Times, Martins said that he agrees with the move, stressing that live animals should not be slaughtered in the region, as it uses substandard methods to kill these animals.

The president of Anima Macau recalled that back in August, the organization had already said that by 2020, it would target the shut-down of the SAR’s slaughterhouses due to their poor performance and the need for space.

Martins had previously said that the slaughterhouses in Macau were not profitable and that they were already making losses amounting to some MOP20 million.

“We don’t need to have these live animals including pigs […] sent to Macau. I don’t believe that this [proposed bill] is anything related to pets,” Martins told the Times.

“It’s more related [to] birds, pigs and this, for me, is good if they are concerned about it, because that is one of our fights – to close the slaughterhouses in Macau. There is no reason for these places to exist in Macau,” he said.

Although the bill was not clear on which animals would be allowed to be euthanized, lawmakers have expressed their concerns about euthanasia on Wednesday.

Lawmakers, including Agnes Lam and Sulu Sou, mainly asked about government measures for strictly implementing the law when animals must be euthanized.

Others have questioned whether the government has had discussions with animal protection groups on whether they agree with the move.

As discussed at the Legislative Assembly, the animals received by IAM will first be sent into quarantine, followed by close monitoring of the animals’ health and condition.

If medical treatment fails, euthanasia will become IAM’s last option.

Anima’s head clarified that they do not support the killing of animals, except for animals that may easily spread diseases such as swine flu.

Thus, he stressed that it is not recommended that the region to have a slaughterhouse.

“Killing birds and pigs is normal, especially if they are spreading epidemic. But even if there is a law for that, it will not affect pets because pets do not create those problems,” Martins said.

“It is dangerous to have a slaughterhouse in Macau because the way they work is far removed from modern techniques,” he added.

In 2001, 40,000 birds were slaughtered after the detection of the H5N1 virus in two geese imported from the mainland. The government also culled 7,500 chickens in 2014, after discovering hY7-type avian influenza in live poultry for the first time.