Weak regulations drive illegal pet imports from mainland, worsening adoption shortage: MASDAW

[Photo; Ricaela Diputado]

The founder of the Macau Association for Stray Dogs and Animal Welfare (MASDAW), Fátima Galvão, says that adoption is in short supply as residents prefer purebreds, often sourced illegally from mainland China.

For Galvão, Macau is also now a “lost case” and not an animal-friendly city, citing a lack of dog parks, inadequate space for animals to exercise, and no genuine government intention to change.

Since starting MASDAW in 2014, Galvão has been aiming to humanely resolve the issue of stray dogs.

In an exclusive interview with the Times, the founder said she still vows to continue doing so but is uncertain about the shelter’s future with over 150 dogs if they lose their current property due to financial pressure.

According to her, the adoption rate is currently low, and she described it as “very, very bad.”
A primary reason cited is that most shelter dogs are mixed-breed, also known as mongrels, while a perceived preference in Macau is for purebred dogs, often sourced illegally from mainland China.

Speaking on adoptions from 2025, she remarked that there were very few.

“Not many. We had, I think, three dogs adopted. More cats were adopted, but the problem is that most of our dogs are mongrels. People in Macau prefer purebred dogs, so many are coming illegally from China to Macau pet shops and directly to people’s homes,” she said.

The highest adoption rates occurred before and during the pandemic, partly due to expatriate fosters who later adopted their dogs when leaving Macau.
“Many expats were helping by fostering dogs, and when we had a lack of space and those people left Macau, several of them took the dogs with them and decided to adopt them,” said Galvão.

On the other hand, she says, “Because most of the companies flying to and from Macau don’t have space to take animals, there were several Filipinos who adopted dogs from MASDAW but couldn’t send them to the Philippines because no flights would accept them.”

Since the beginning of this year, hundreds of people have visited the shelter to walk the dogs but none planned to adopt. “We’ve already had more than 700 people come here to walk the dogs, but no one plans to adopt.”

Financial and operational struggles

The shelter has been struggling due to insufficient public donations, which are not enough to cover costs. The shelter’s monthly rent is HKD 46,000, and major veterinary bills create severe financial strain, forcing choices between medical care and rent.

“We received donations, but they were really not enough. Last September and October, we had two cats and three dogs who were very sick, so we had to spend more than HKD160,000 on veterinary bills,” Galvão stated.

Meanwhile, over the years, the shelter has moved multiple times from Coloane to Taipa and now to the Macau Peninsula due to landlords selling properties.

“MASDAW’s first shelter was my home in Coloane, which had a garden. In 2021, we were informed that the landlord planned to sell the house, so we had to move the dogs to a very bad space in Taipa, but it was the only one we could find,” she recalled.

“Until November of the same year, when we moved them here to the Macau Peninsula, around 50% of our dogs didn’t breathe fresh air and didn’t have sun, which is so important for a healthy life, because the place had no garden,” she added.

The temporary location in Taipa lacked outdoor space, harming the dogs’ well-being. Galvão notes that most Macau shelters are forced to house animals in industrial buildings, which is “very cruel.”

Gov’t policy and systemic issues

The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) services, last month, were criticized over the recent decision not to expand veterinary service hours at the Municipal Kennel. Galvão argued this limits access for lower-income residents, making pet ownership a “social differentiator.”

She also does not agree with the government effectively maintaining the “catch and kill” policy, where stray dogs caught by the IAM are killed if not adopted within one to two years due to space constraints. She contrasts this with a more effective Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) policy.

She said, “Even though the government is promoting adoption, most of the dogs caught are never adopted and end up being killed one or two years after being in the municipal pound. Plus, it’s unbelievable that in such a wealthy city, the government, instead of helping people with fewer financial resources, treats animal ownership as a social differentiator.”

Galvão also noted a lack of import controls, which is a major systemic issue, namely the rampant illegal import of pets from mainland China, often via social media and door-to-door delivery, with minimal age verification for buyers. According to her, this undermines local adoption efforts.
“And while there isn’t a restrictive policy here, in other countries they have created rules stating that animals can only be sold when most shelters are empty. It’s a way to protect existing animals. But here, nothing is done,” she remarked.

“Due to the new regulations for veterinary clinics, the prices are much higher. So to provide a good service to their clients, they need to increase their prices, and many people cannot afford it,” she noted.

In addition, she described extreme difficulties and high costs in sending animals out of Macau due to a lack of pet-friendly transport options, which hinders overseas adoption programs.

Change and personal dedication

The founder suggested a potential solution and argued that Macau’s geography (a peninsula and islands) makes it theoretically easier to control the stray animal population. She proposed a long-term, government-supported plan: using empty land in Coloane to create managed “paradise” areas for neutered stray animals, aiming to humanely resolve the issue within 20 years.

Ultimately, she labeled Macau “a lost case” and “not an animal-friendly city,” citing a lack of dog parks, inadequate space for animals to exercise, and no genuine government intention to change.

At 62 years old, Galvão vows to continue but is uncertain about the shelter’s future if they lose their current property due to financial pressure. She hopes to find someone to continue the association’s work or possibly send the dogs to a non-killing shelter, such as associations in Shanghai.

“There are some places in mainland China, namely associations in Shanghai, that have agreements with airlines and send dogs and cats to be adopted in other countries. People give their names so the animals can travel under them, and they pay nothing. But in Macau, we can’t do that,” she said.

She concluded by stressing the importance of respecting animals’ nature. While they are family, she criticizes treating pets like fashion accessories or children, arguing it confuses the animals and stems from the owner’s need for attention.

“It’s really, really sad. To be an animal lover in Macau, to be an animal protector in Macau, it’s really a nightmare.” Ricaela Diputado