Ocean Gardens reports ‘suspicious’ cat deaths

The bodies of five cats, which are suspected to have died after falling at Ocean Gardens in Taipa, were reported on a notice. The notice was dated January 11 and had the letterhead of the real estate management entity.
The notice concerns residents in the Syringa, Cherry and Kapok Court buildings of the residential estate.
Showing a picture of the lightwell of the three buildings, the notice stated that “several cats” have fallen or been thrown from an apartment in the residential estate. The picture shows four dead cats, circled and masked, lying in the lightwell.
Since cruelty towards animals is a punishable crime in Macau, estate management stated in their notice that the case has been reported to the police and the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM). They also pledged to provide surveillance camera footage to the authorities upon request.
In a statement issued last night, the IAM stated that it was told by the management entity that the sighting of the dead cats took place on December 29, but they only reported the case to the authority on January 5.
As the sighting and the report occurred over half a month apart and the location has been cleaned, the IAM noted that it could not conduct further investigation.
However, the Public Security Police (PSP) said that it has “immediately dispatched officers to the scene” when it was informed. However, upon arriving to the scene, the carcasses have been removed. The PSP has established a case for investigation.
Meanwhile, lawmaker Sulu Sou called for an explanation from the management entity of the residential estate on his social media page.
Pursuant to the Animal Protection Law, cruelty towards animals is subject to a maximum of one year in prison or a 120 days’ monetary fine.
Although cruelty towards animals has not been rare since the promulgation of the law in 2016, only a handful of prosecutions have been made. The authorities have justified this by citing a “lack of evidence.”