Almost midnight, I was on my way home after the delightful acoustic gathering at my friend’s home. I was walking along the Macau Canidrome (逸園賽狗場) when I kept hearing dogs’ howling in a soft and low volume. This is the first time I felt tangibly the existence of the Macau Canidrome.

 

With the gambling policy in Macao, the entrance of the Macau Canidrome is restricted to people who are under 18 years old, except in daytime while it is used as a public stadium for young and old to do sports.

 

Ten years ago when I was still in primary school, the Macau Canidrome was meant to be a “2C” stadium- “Cheap” and “Convenient” for high schools to hold their annual sports day. And I had been to the Macau Canidrome once or twice for this purpose. However, I had never seen any greyhounds and races in it until now. I have already turned eligible to enter and experience this conventional and unique gambling in Macao. I decided to come in and take a look.

 

There are 12 races on every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday night. Before entering the Macau Canidrome, every viewer is charged MOP10 for admission fee at the entrance. Six to eight starved Australian greyhounds chase after an electric rabbit in a race, and cameras are prohibited in the Macau Canidrome, the same as in all the casinos.

 

By my own eyes, there were just a few members of the audience inside and most of them were elderly. Although the betting methods are diversified to mobile betting or Internet betting nowadays, I believe most people tend to bet in glamorous casinos rather than in the Macau Canidrome. Also, the minimum bet amount of MOP10 probably explains why elderly would be the vast majority of this gambling.

 

The Macau Canidrome has over 80 years of history. However, the size of audience is significantly decreasing and is now in a world of difference compared with the early years. Decades ago, people reserved boxes to watch races and queued in long lines for betting in the Macau Canidrome. But now, you may probably see less than a hundred people in the audience at a random night in the Macau Canidrome.

 

Anima Macau, a non-profit association promoting animal rights and welfare, claimed that a year of revenue in the Macau Canidrome was just equal to four hours of revenue in a casino. However, there were 360 dogs at a minimum being killed due to injury and illness each year in the Macau Canidrome.

 

The coming July 21, 2018, the Macau Canidrome will be closed and the land has to be returned to the Macau SAR government even though there is still no concrete construction plan on this site. However, the closure means almost 650 dogs from the Macau Canidrome will be waiting for their future fate, adoption or else. Therefore, for those who want a pet, kindly consider adopting the dogs in the Macau Canidrome or the Macau Greyhound Adoption Program for adopting retired dogs in the Macau Canidrome.

 

Today, the Macau Canidrome is the only place for the dog race gambling on the globe. Leong On Kei, executive director of the Macau Canidrome, suggested to build a museum for this fading tradition. Although many people may welcome the closure of the Macau Canidrome because of noisy dog barking, a girl in her early 20s who lives with her family in one block of Iat Lai Garden said, “I got used to it and was not annoyed with the dogs bark at night. And the closing of the Macau Canidrome would be a loss of convention and a pity, since the Macau Canidrome was the symbol of my living district.”