The only greyhound race track available in Asia is the Yat Yuen Canidrome, a facility that just recently received a renewed contact for one year of operation by the government of Macau. Based on information provided by the Official Gazette of Macau, the exclusive contract for the Canidrome was scheduled to expire this year but has now been renewed to stay intact until December 31st of 2016.

The decision to renew the greyhound track contract was criticized by the President of the Society for the Protection of Animals, Albano Martins. Martins stated that Angela Leong, the Executive Director of Canidrome, was playing with sensitive issues of the government.

The Canidrome has been under the spotlight since April 2015 when Martins claimed that as many as 30 dogs or more had been killed every month when they did not perform well or due to injury or illness. Martin’s stated the adoption program of the facility was also a sham as the Canidrome has only adopted three dogs since the group launched the adoption program back in 2012.

A petition was submitted by the animal cruelty group that called for the facility to stop offering greyhound racing. The petition gained 300,000 signatures and even athletes and celebrities have signed on in support of shutting down the race track, calling the venue the cruelest in existence.

Leong believed the contract would be renewed for at least two to three years instead of the one year given, providing the track with trim to execute their plan to cover a variety of objectives. The company plans on providing family services, sporting facilities and supporting small and medium enterprises on a local scale. The track wants to refurbish the facility and add more features to entice tourists.

In October, the University of Macau Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming was commissioned by the government to conduct a research project on the track covering a span of one year. This study could find information to back up Martin’s claims or nothing at all, only time will tell.