The Buzz | CHINA DENIES VIRUS CAME FROM LAB

The president of animal rights group Anima (Macau) is heading back to Europe next month, and again at various times later this year, to continue spearheading an international campaign to block imports of greyhounds to the Macau Yat Yuen Canidrome. According to Albano Martins, the facility is finding it ever more difficult to procure the animals and may be close to folding. To maintain the pressure, Martins has scheduled visits with potential heavyweight influencers in the greyhound trade, which he hopes will add steam to the intensifying global campaign. Among these visits is a proposed meeting on June 6 with a major airline carrier, with whom Martins will negotiate a boycott of the freight of greyhounds to Macau via Hong Kong. Martins has requested the Times not to disclose the identity of the airline as it may affect the negotiating process. If the negotiations are successful, the carrier will join Qantas and Cathay Pacific in refusing to transport the animals. “I am expecting that they will agree to stop freighting the animals,” Martins told the Times via a telephone interview. The news comes just a day after a government source told the Times that the recent difficulties in bringing new greyhounds to the MSAR will be a “crucial aspect” in the government’s decision on the license renewal for the facility. The reaction to yesterday’s article was widespread. Albano Martins claims that he was woken in the early hours of the morning by numerous international calls in response to the fast spreading breaking news on the facility’s probable closure. A government decision not to renew the Canidrome’s license will represent a significant, if not total, victory for Anima (Macau), whose strategy has been to restrict the ability of Canidrome to operate through an embargo on the greyhound trade. Martins told the Times that they are already making significant progress in this field. When Australian exports of the animals were restricted last year, the facility turned its attention to Ireland, which animal rights activists regard as the last significant “source” of greyhounds for the facility. Only dogs from certain countries can avoid Macau’s lengthy quarantine process. If trade from Ireland were to be blocked, imported animals [from other countries] may face up to six months in quarantine before they can be delivered to the Canidrome. “There is no space for this in Macau [to hold the animals], so it is not a viable option for the Canidrome,” concluded Martins. A shipment of 24 Irish greyhounds was expected to arrive in Macau earlier this month and a group of demonstrators orchestrated by Anima (Macau) gathered to protest the delivery. However the arrival never came to pass. “The Canidrome now directly owns just 129 dogs [with the others owned by individuals], down from the hundreds it once had,” he said. “Why are there so few animals today? Because it has become very difficult to buy them, and because they [the Canidrome company] are expecting that the facility will be closed soon.” Anima (Macau) is additionally planning to volunteer their services in caring for the greyhounds in the event that the facility is closed down. Martins is hoping to organize an adoption program for the animals, drawing from the experience of Italy – a country “many animals are sent to, after their careers [abroad].” To this end, Martins will visit an Italian greyhound adoption center on September 24 to gain insight into how to manage the process. “If we are successful in cutting off the trade, the government will need time to re-organize. In the meantime, Anima [Macau] is volunteering [to organize] an international adoption campaign… but we also need time to plan this,” he told the Times. “We need the government to make a decision soon […] so we can prepare.” “We opened a campaign last week and we already have more than 50 prospective adopters and a facility [abroad] that says it can host as many as 200,” added Martins. The president of Anima (Macau) also has plans to attend a rally in Dublin organized by Animal Rights Action Network on Thursday, and may have a meeting organized with representatives of the Australian government, however this remains unconfirmed. over 39,000 views The Times’ report yesterday, uncovering a government insider’s prediction that a decision on the Canidrome would be made within two months, has surged in popularity as international onlookers continue to use the Times as their gateway to Macau. More than 39,000 views were registered just 15 hours after the article’s publication. The article has also received more than 30 comments from users calling for the Canidrome’s closure, the end to the greyhound trade in China, and praising the international pressure which is appearing to make an impact in Macau. “It will be the most wonderful day when this dreadful place closes and these beautiful dogs will be free to find loving homes,” wrote one user. “I beg the Chinese [Macau] government to do the right thing and end this barbaric sport.”