Animal rights | Martins intends to tender resignation from post today

The president of animal rights group Anima is set to tender his resignation to the board today, following an announcement by the Civic and Municipal Affair Bureau (IACM) that only its workers will be permitted in the Canidrome premises to take care of the greyhounds.

In July, Anima and the Macau (Yat Yuen) Canidrome agreed to an unexpected partnership over the accommodation and adoption processes of the greyhounds.

Martins’ decision is not final and he will still be reflecting over the weekend as to whether he should keep his post.

“It is not final but I still would like Anima to replace me as we need someone now capable of doing things without being too compromised, too involved with difficult issues. I think I am now in a situation where I believe it is not the best for Anima,” the president of Anima told the Times.

“Anima really wants to work in a way where we feel we are not only being used by IACM, but we are really adding some value to this process,” he added.

Martins was informed by the Canidrome on Saturday that they will not be allowed to enter the premises of the Canidrome, as it will be taken over by IACM.

“This was one of the main reasons why I decided to resign,” said Martins, noting that he doubts the bureau’s capability to handle the adoption processes, citing an instance where a recently adopted greyhound was found dead.

According to him, they need to have a good control of all the adoption works in the kennel, and should carefully consider whether the greyhounds are still able to be exported or adopted.

“It caused me to believe that there is no human capacity to handle animal welfare because the vets cannot wait for those occurrences to come. This is really a big frustration for me. I do not believe that the government would pay the [medical] fees,” said Martins.

Although the Canidrome pledges to still support the transfer of the greyhounds to other countries, Martins doubts that they will continue to support the animals’ medical fees.

The remaining greyhounds were supposed to be relocated to the new premisesåΩ in Coloane last week, yet IACM announced that it failed to improve the soundproofing of the containers installed in the premises.

Thus, the owner of the company, Angela Leong, is set to be fined for abandoning animals under the Animal Rights Law, which could range between MOP20,000 and to MOP100,000 per greyhound.

Martins is set to meet with IACM next week.  “Maybe I will change my mind after talks with IACM’s president, José Tavares,” said Martins, noting that he was already contacted by the official yesterday morning. LV