The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) has launched a paid service to provide temporary care and accommodation for dogs whose owners are unable to ensure the health of their canines during the city’s seven-day special COVID-19 control period, Leong Iek Hou, the chief of the Health Bureau’s Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Division, said yesterday.
Leong announced the arrangement during yesterday afternoon’s daily press conference by the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre about the current COVID-19 outbreak.
According to IAM, the temporary care and accommodation service starts at 3 p.m. today and ends next Monday, with a charge of 130 to 150 patacas per dog per day, depending on its size.
Leong noted that dog owners who need this service must first make an appointment with IAM officials before taking their dog to one of the IAM kennels.
The government’s special COVID-19 control and prevention measures started at 0:00 on Monday and are slated to end at 23:59 p.m. on Sunday.
There are two IAM kennels in the city, one in Avenida do Almirante Lacerda (提督馬路) and the other in Estrada de Cheoc Van in Coloane (路環竹灣馬路).
Leong pointed out that dog owners need to arrange their own transport to take their dogs to the kennels and pick them up at the end of their stay, and that they are not allowed to visit their dogs during the temporary stay.
According to Leong, dogs that fall ill during the stay in the kennels can be taken out by their owners for treatment at any of the city’s veterinary clinics, while the kennels do not accept dogs that are sick.
According to the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre, between 40 to 50 pets are staying in the kennels, whose owners are currently in COVID-19 medical observation quarantine and therefore are unable to care for their pets.
Due to the government special COVID-19 control measures, which include curbs on people’s movements, pet owners are not allowed to take their dogs for a walk or to relieve themselves in the street this week.
For more information, please call 2833 7676 to find out more about the service arrangements and requirements.
This 2020 photo taken in Coloane shows a dog looking into the camera. Ginnie Liang
