(CN-Macao) Macao group calls for criminalizing cruelty to animals

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Macao group calls for criminalizing cruelty to animals

www.chinaview.cn

2008-03-09

 

MACAO, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Over 500 people in Macao Sunday took to the street

with more than 70 cats and dogs in a march organized by a local animal

protection group, which called upon local authorities to criminalize activities

concerning maltreating animals.

 

The march, organized by the non-profit Abandoned Animals Protect Association of

Macao (AAPAM), was a direct response from the city's animal enthusiasts to a cat

" barbecuing " case last month, which saw 11 teenagers detained for burning a cat.

 

Yoko Choi Wing Chi, cofounder of AAPAM, said that those teenagers' violent

behavior toward animals is " intolerable " and cruelty to animals should be

criminalized in a bid to prevent similar cases from occurring in the future.

 

Carrying banners and shouting out slogans against animal maltreatment, the

protesters marched peacefully to the local government headquarters to hand over

their petition, and the whole process of the march lasted for about 45 minutes.

 

Last month, 11 Macao teenagers, aged between 11 and 14, were arrested by local

police on Valentine's Day for " barbecuing " a cat they claimed to be already dead

at a local vacated construction site, but they were later released as minors

under the age of 16 cannot be charged with a crime under the Macao laws.

 

Editor: Sun Yunlong

 

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/09/content_7751779.htm

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Macao Daily News 15th February 2008 – Free Translation - Teenagers suspected for

dreadfully burnt cat

 

On Valentine’s Day, 11 teenagers burnt a cat and disturbed the neighborhood.

Their act was extremely cruel and this revealed that some teenagers are with

violent attitude. A rare fire incident happened in an empty ground near the “Sun

Kio” area. A group of childish teenagers were playing on the empty ground; they

hang a cat with a bamboo stick and lit fire to the cat together with other

unwanted furniture and rubbish as their campfire. The poor little cat was burnt

till the four limps got broken with burst open stomach and intestine. After they

fled away when the police arrived the first time, the teenagers return after a

few hours and continued their party but this time they were captured by police.

When the police questioned those teenagers, they were acting foolishly without

having any sense of feeling guilty.

* * *

Police took away 11 teenagers of whom 9 boys and 2 girls, age between 11 to 14

years old and some of them are students. According to information provided,

those teenagers were out around mid-night of 14th February to celebrate

Valentine’s Day and gathered at the empty ground outside “Fok On Building of

“Fok On Street”, making lots of noise and disturbance. They gathered wooden

board, chairs, sofa and other inflammable stuff to light a fire, just as if they

were enjoying themselves in a campfire.

Nearby residence saw smoke coming from the empty ground and reported that there

was a fire outbreak. The teenagers fled away quickly upon arrival of firemen and

policemen.

Police found a bamboo stick hanging on a tree and with detailed observation,

they found a scorched cat hung on the stick. The stick passed through the neck

of the poor cat and the carcass looked really dreadful with entire burnt body,

broken four limps, burst stomach and intestine, it is too ghastly to look at.

From the carcass, it is understood that the poor cat suffered long time from

burning and it is possible that someone lit fire on it shortly after it is dead

or worse still is being burnt alive. People who saw this incident were left

speechless with the cruelty of the young suspects.

After inspection, firemen were suspicious with the cause of the fire and passed

the case to the police for further investigation. Deal to the seriousness of the

incident, police started to investigate any suspicious male and female in the

area. In the silence at 3 a.m., the suspects believed that the situation had

settled and they returned to the scene to continue their party. Just then, the

police reappeared and took all the suspects back for investigation.

The act of arson can be observed in different area of the empty ground, with

burnt wooden board, tree branches, chairs, iron board, etc. The 11 childish

teenagers were investigated on spot and police took evidence for preliminary

investigation. Except one or two suspects whom lowered their head without

speech, others were chatting and laughing away without even worried about what

they have committed. Neighbors who saw their behavior felt sorry and could not

understand what is the attitude and motive behind their behavior. All the

teenagers were taken away for further investigation.

 

The 11 teenagers were found non-guilty the following day.

 

http://www.aapam.net/f_bad5.htm

==================================

From Poyi's Journalism Portfolio:

 

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Issue 122, Page 3

Published in: Macau Daily Times

By Poyi (Natalie) Leung

 

You don't necessarily need to be fond of animals or to raise them, but you do

not have the right to abuse them or to ruin their lives.

 

This is the belief of two animal enthusiasts, Josephine Lau and Yoko Choi, who

established the non-profit Abandoned Animals Protect Association of Macau

(AAPAM) in 2004.

 

Speaking to the Macau Daily Times at its 3,000 square-foot animal shelter in

Barras Rua da Praia do Manduco where more than 120 dogs and cats are kept,

Josephine and Yoko said they had their principles in bringing abandoned pets to

their sanctuary.

 

“We usually only take injured or newborn animals found on streets back to our

shelter, or during night time and weekends when people can't contact the Civic

and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM),” Yoko said.

 

She said the association only received pets from their owners in special

circumstances such as when the owners were seriously ill and could no longer

take care of their pets.

 

“If the owners do not have a convincing reason for not keeping their pets, we

will decline their requests because we don't want them to get away of their

responsibility easily,” Yoko added.

 

“Or they will just hand over their pets to us whenever they don't feel like

keeping them.”

 

For example, Josephine said, the AAPAM had agreed to temporarily take care of a

dog because its owner was diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo chemotherapy.

 

“We can't control what the owners do. But if we take over their pets no matter

the reasons, we will just encourage this kind of irresponsible behaviour,”

Josephine said.

 

“Any trivial thing could make up an excuse for the owners when they don't want

to keep the pets any more.”

 

Although Josephine and Yoko tried to control the number of animal intakes, they

said their sanctuary had already reached the limit and could not afford to bring

in more.

 

“The IACM will send inspectors and animal doctors to our shelter every month to

assure the level of hygiene and every animal has sufficient space to move

around.

 

“They aim to protect the right of the animals,” they said.

 

Adoption program

 

The AAPAM offers an adoption program. However, Josephine said not every one of

the applications would be approved.

 

After the applications are lodged, the association's volunteers will conduct

meetings and interviews with the candidates and then access their level of

capability and dedication in looking after the animals.

 

“Therefore, our number of adoption is not very high because we have very strict

requirements in assessing the applicants as well as their families.” Josephine

said.

 

In unexpected situations when the adopters could no longer take care of the

pets, the AAPAM needed to ensure that the animals would be returned to the

sanctuary instead of being given away to someone else.

 

“We want to make sure that we know the whereabouts of our animals until the day

they die,” Josephine said.

 

She told the Macau Daily Times that a dog had been returned to the shelter two

days after the adoption because the adopter said it never stopped baking at its

new home.

 

“It made us suspect that the dog actually wanted to come back to us.”

 

Josephine and Yoko spent their afternoon at a veterinary centre in Taipa

yesterday because a puppy needed to undergo surgery.

 

The two-month-old puppy was discovered seriously injured in a rubbish bin under

a bridge in Macau’s Canal dos Patos on Wednesday [more

info…http://www.flickr.com/photos/13215703@N05/sets/72157602180638837/with/14632\

12533/].

 

It will be taken care of by the AAPAM until it is restored a healthy life or is

adopted.

 

Yoko said the veterinarian suspected that the puppy had been kept and injured in

a vehicle maintenance shop because its hair smelled of petrol.

 

“Apart from controlling the number of homeless animals and doing de-sex

operations, we have to emphasis more on the civil education. Because you don't

want the pet any more doesn't mean that you can abuse it,” Yoko said.

 

“People say it's so cruel to send the animals to the IACM's animal shelter

because they would be injected to death after 72 hours.

 

“But I think at least they can die peacefully instead of being abused and left

to die on streets. They will still suffer a lot if no one discovers and saves

them,” she added.

 

Abandoned in bin

 

Josephine said there was a case in which a dog wrapped in a plastic bag had been

abandoned at the bottom of a rubbish bin.

 

Fortunately someone discovered it and reported to the IACM, or she said it would

have been ground to death with other general garbage in the government's

waste-collection vehicles.

 

The AAPAM is planning to carry out promotion campaigns and seminars at schools

so that children can be educated about the responsibility of keeping pets, thus

leading to fewer animals being abandoned in the future.

 

Josephine said government regulations would be essential, especially in

monitoring construction sites where dogs had usually been kept.

 

This was because the animals would be either abandoned when the construction

project was completed or, in the worst scenario, eaten.

 

“I've a friend who had saved two out of seven puppies from a local industry

building. One of them has been adopted and another one is still in our shelter,”

Josephine said.

 

“My friend always went there for work and had heard the people there saying that

eating dogs could heal asthma and was good for health.”

 

The Animal Patronage Program is the AAPAM's major source of revenue.

 

Yoko said at the beginning of the establishment, all expenses could only be

covered through their own pockets.

 

“Every animal has to receive three vaccines in its infancy, then the licensing

fee and the rabies injection, de-worming and de-sex operation. So basically we

need to spend more than 1,000 patacas on each of them on top of the annual

regular injections and other medical treatments if needed,” she said.

 

The AAPAM has now been receiving monthly subsidies from the IACM and irregular

sponsorships from friends.

 

Although Josephine and Yoko have hired two workers in the sanctuary responsible

for the daily cleaning work, they insist on making their visit every day to see

the animals after finishing their work as a dancing teacher and yoga coach.

 

And on every Sunday, they will spend most of their time there playing with them

on the top floor of the building.

 

Both Josephine and Yoko, without a doubt, are dedicated animal enthusiasts.

 

http://poyileung.wordpress.com/2007/09/30/meet-josephine-and-yoko-an-animals-bes\

t-friends/#more-322

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Abandoned Animals Protect Association of Macao:

 

http://www.aapam.net/

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aapam2005's photos:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13215703@N05/