Everyone Stray Dogs Macau Volunteer Group, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), said in a statement on Monday that the government should consider setting a time frame for dog owners to take their pets outside to poop during the city’s seven-day special COVID-19 control period.
The special period runs through Sunday.
The statement came in response to what the Novel Coronavirus Prevention and Coordination Centre said at Monday’s daily press conference: pet owners are not permitted to take their dogs out for a walk to relieve themselves this week.
According to the statement, many volunteer groups and dog owners told the organisation that their dogs were not used to relieving themselves inside the home, and some of them had refrained from defecating for over a day already. The statement underlined that the dogs could be experiencing both physical and mental health problems as a result, such as bladder and kidney dysfunction, prostate disease, which may even lead to death for older dogs.
The statement said that the government should consider letting dog owners take their dogs out for a walk in their respective neighbourhood to relieve themselves at a specific time during this week’s special COVID-19 control period, while the dog owners would be required to comply with the pandemic regulations, such as wearing a KN95 mask and taking their dogs for a walk alone.
