A pet died in Macao. The statute stops at the animal's life; the municipal services take over after death
Macao's peculiarity is that it has neither a pet-funeral statute nor a licensing regime for the trade. The Animal Protection Law covers abandonment, cruelty, sale and licences, and says nothing at all about what an owner does with a body. What fills that gap is a government service: at the municipal kennel on Avenida do Almirante Lacerda you hand over the body, pay by weight, and take the ashes home in a container. A blank in the law, filled in by a service list and a fee schedule.
Laws change. Everything below was checked against the sources at the foot of this page on the date shown there.
The first hours
Keep the body cool
Lay them on a towel or a training pad in the coolest room you have. Macao is humid, and summer room temperature is the first practical problem; a covered arcade or a balcony is not cool enough. Do not press ice directly against the skin.
Decide which route: the IAM, a private provider, or a phone call
The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) cremates pet bodies and returns the ashes in a container; private providers also offer pet funerals. If you do not need ashes back, call the IAM's animal-carcass line on 2887 0120 and ask what arrangement applies.
Deliver the body to the municipal kennel in office hours
The kennel is on Avenida do Almirante Lacerda, open Monday to Friday 09:00–13:00 and 14:30–17:00. Ring 2833 7676 first to confirm that day's arrangements and what to bring — that one call saves a wasted trip.
If the cause of death is unknown, do not handle it yourself
The IAM is explicit: where there is suspected cruelty or a body of unknown cause of death, do not deal with the body yourself — call the police or the animal-carcass line on 2887 0120. That advice was written for bodies found in the street, and it applies just as well to the cat in your flat who died too suddenly.
What the law actually says
The Animal Protection Law governs the living animal: abandonment, cruelty, sale, licences. It leaves the whole of the after-death question blank — and what fills that blank is not another statute but a municipal service.
The statute regulates life, not death
Article 5 of Law 4/2016 forbids an owner from abandoning an animal, and article 29 makes a breach an administrative offence with a fine of MOP 20,000 to 100,000. Article 17 offers the lawful exit: an owner who can no longer keep an animal may surrender it to the IAM, paying a fixed boarding fee — and ownership passes on surrender. The whole law is about not wanting the animal and not being allowed to hurt it. There is not one article about what happens to a body.
Law 4/2016, Animal Protection Law — articles 5, 14, 17, 19, 29 · 2016-09-01
The only mention of a carcass is a power, not a rule
Article 14(1)(11) lists “destroying the carcasses of animals” among the control measures the IAM may take. That is a public power in a disease-control context, not guidance for a grieving owner. In short: the law authorises the government to dispose of a body while never telling you where you might bury one.
Law 4/2016, Animal Protection Law — articles 5, 14, 17, 19, 29 · 2016-09-01
Cremation is a government service, not a licensed trade
The government's service directory carries an entry called “pet body cremation service”: the executing unit is the IAM's animal quarantine service, the location is the municipal kennel on Avenida do Almirante Lacerda, the service includes cremation and the return of the ashes in a container, and the enquiry number is 2833 7676. This is where Macao departs from Hong Kong, Singapore, California, New York, Florida and mainland China: elsewhere you are looking for a licensing authority. Here you are looking for a service counter.
Macao government service directory — pet body cremation service (IAM animal quarantine service) · 2026-10-24
The fee schedule is graded by weight, at twenty kilos
The IAM charges in two bands: MOP 500 per animal up to 20 kg, and MOP 1,000 above 20 kg, with the ashes returned in a container. Amounts follow the current IAM fee schedule, so confirm on 2833 7676 before you go. It is a rarity in this series to find a published price at all — not “on application”, not “depending on the package”.
IAM — fees for pet body cremation (two weight bands) · 2026-10-24
No pet cemetery, and no pet-funeral licence
The only licences the law sets out are for dogs, horses and competition animals (article 19) — a keeping licence, nothing to do with funerals — and Macao has no statutory framework for a pet cemetery. So there is no “pet funeral licence” and no register of licensed providers to consult. A private firm can run the business, but there is no dedicated licensing scheme behind it: what you can check is its commercial registration, not a professional qualification.
Law 4/2016, Animal Protection Law — articles 5, 14, 17, 19, 29 · 2016-09-01
Where the body can go
Four routes, and two of the phone numbers come from the government.
IAM cremation, ashes home
Take the body to the municipal kennel on Avenida do Almirante Lacerda, Monday to Friday 09:00–13:00 and 14:30–17:00, pay by weight (MOP 500 up to 20 kg, MOP 1,000 above) and collect the ashes in a container. Confirm the day's arrangement on 2833 7676 first, especially around long holidays.
Call 2887 0120 and let the IAM handle it
That is the IAM's animal-carcass line — the same number the government gives the public when it asks people not to deal with a body of unknown cause of death themselves. The right route when you do not need ashes, or when the circumstances are unusual: found in the street, cause unknown.
A private pet funeral provider
Commercial providers in Macao offer funerals and cremation, but with no dedicated licensing there is no such thing as “licensed”. Ask whether the cremation is individual, whether ashes are returned, where the cremation physically happens and what it costs — and get the price in writing.
Burying the body yourself
The law neither authorises nor expressly forbids it, but Macao has no pet cemetery, and land is not yours to dig as you please — private land use, hygiene conditions and the effect on neighbours all constrain it separately. In practice the IAM's cremation is the route this city actually offers.
How this is regulated
One executing bureau, two sets of penalties, and a trade that no licensing scheme covers.
The IAM is both enforcer and service provider
Its animal quarantine service handles three things at once: pet-body cremation, animal licences, and the collection and post-mortem examination of carcasses. Being regulator and provider in the same body is the deepest difference between Macao and the other six places, and it explains why there is no list of licensed providers to look for.
Macao government service directory — pet body cremation service (IAM animal quarantine service) · 2026-10-24
The penalties sit in the Animal Protection Law
Abandonment is an administrative offence carrying MOP 20,000 to 100,000. Cruelty that causes serious mutilation, loss of an organ or death carries up to one year's imprisonment or up to 120 days' fine. These are enforced by the IAM and the police on separate tracks from body disposal.
Law 4/2016, Animal Protection Law — articles 5, 14, 17, 19, 29 · 2016-09-01
The licence system covers living animals only
Article 19 requires a licence for dogs over three months, horses and competition animals, with identification or a microchip. That is a keeping licence, not a disposal licence — conflate the two and you will go looking for a pet-funeral permit that does not exist.
Law 4/2016, Animal Protection Law — articles 5, 14, 17, 19, 29 · 2016-09-01
The split with Hong Kong is the other way round
In Hong Kong the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department collects and private firms cremate — two separate hands. In Macao the IAM cremates, charges and hands back the ashes itself. It is the easiest thing to miss when comparing the two sides of the estuary: the same task is public health on one side and a public service on the other.
Macao government service directory — pet body cremation service (IAM animal quarantine service) · 2026-10-24
On private companies
Businesses in this sector are ordinary commercial services, and engaging one is lawful. No agency here publishes an approved list of providers, and none has vetted their standards. Because of that, this page does not list, rank or recommend any of them, and does not reproduce their addresses, phone numbers or prices — a list on a page like this one would read as an endorsement we are in no position to give. The public contacts below are the ones worth using.
Public resources
- Law 4/2016, Animal Protection Law (full text)Macao SAR Official Gazette. Articles 5, 14, 17, 19 and 29 are the ones cited here.
- Macao government service directory — pet body cremation serviceExecuting unit, location, office hours and the enquiry number, all on one page.
- IAM — fees for the pet body cremation serviceThe two weight bands and the ashes-in-a-container detail; the current fee schedule governs.
- IAM — animal carcass line, 2887 0120IAM notice of 9 February 2021, including the “do not handle the body yourself” instruction.
Frequently asked questions
Can I bury my pet at home or on private land in Macao?
The law leaves no route for an owner to bury: the Animal Protection Law deals with abandonment, cruelty and licences, and never addresses a body; and Macao has no pet cemetery framework. Private land use, hygiene and the effect on neighbours constrain it separately. In practice, IAM cremation is the route the city offers.
What does IAM cremation cost?
Two weight bands: MOP 500 per animal up to 20 kg and MOP 1,000 above 20 kg, with the ashes returned in a container. The current IAM fee schedule governs — ring 2833 7676 to confirm before you go.
Do I get the ashes back?
Yes. The service includes returning the ashes in a container, which is what distinguishes it from collective disposal. If you do not need ashes, call 2887 0120 and ask about the other arrangement.
Do I need an appointment, and when can I go?
The kennel on Avenida do Almirante Lacerda is open Monday to Friday 09:00–13:00 and 14:30–17:00. The service page does not require a booking, but a call first to confirm that day's arrangements and what to bring will save you a wasted trip.
What is the penalty for abandoning an animal?
Article 5 forbids abandonment and article 29 makes it an administrative offence with a fine of MOP 20,000 to 100,000. If you genuinely cannot keep an animal, article 17 allows surrender to the IAM on payment of a fixed boarding fee — and ownership passes to the IAM on surrender.
I found a dead animal in the street. What now?
Do not handle it yourself. The IAM's instruction is that where cruelty is suspected or the cause of death is unknown, you should not deal with the body — call the police, or the animal-carcass line on 2887 0120.
Sources
- Law 4/2016, Animal Protection Law — articles 5, 14, 17, 19, 292016-09-01
- Macao government service directory — pet body cremation service (IAM animal quarantine service)2026-10-24
- IAM — fees for pet body cremation (two weight bands)2026-10-24
- IAM notice — animal carcass line 2887 0120 (2021-02-09)2021-02-09
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This page is general information about local law and public services. It is not legal advice and not a recommendation of any business. Local rules vary and change; check with the authority named in the sources before you act. We do not operate any service mentioned here and we accept no payment from anyone in this trade.
Last checked: 2026-10-24 · If something here is wrong or out of date, tell us — we date every correction instead of quietly editing it.