Animal Protection Law finally approved

Kwan Tsui Hang and Leonel Alves discuss the proposal

The AL was gathered yesterday for the final discussion and anticipated approval of the Animal Protection Law. After an unexpectedly controversial debate mostly based on a technicality (the fact that some legislators considered the bill “not properly written,” particularly in the Portuguese version), the draft law was approved almost unanimously, with just a few abstentions. At the same time, there were a handful of votes against specific articles, namely from lawmakers Pereira Coutinho, Leong Veng Chai and Leonel Alves, with the latter being the most active in protesting with the bill’s final version, making dozens of remarks and suggestions for changes in the writing.
Pereira Coutinho was another active lawmaker who questioned the purpose of the law, which he claims is unclear from the outset. “Right from Article 1, it says that it [the law] intends to protect rights but which rights?” he asked, remarking that Macau has been discussing this law for “more than 10 years” and now “we say that we are doing this to elevate our standards to international level. But we still disregard the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare (UDAW) that was adopted in 1978 by the UN.”
The use of muzzles was a controversial point that reflected a discrepancy between the bill’s current form and its original. Kwan Tsui Hang, the president of the Standing Committee that had analyzed the bill, stated that the provision has been made “a non-
mandatory measure for dogs that weigh over 23Kg,” although in fact, what the law provides is an opportunity to require its exemption in specific cases.
The Secretary for Administration and Justice, Sónia Chan, replied that the purpose was to create “a balanced regime between rights and duties,” helped by the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM). The IACM explained that “the criteria originates from places like Taiwan and the American Veterinary Medical Association.”