Cat rescue in China is almost impossible
I would like to recognise the cat lovers of China who do great work under trying or almost impossible circumstances to improve the lives of cats.There are cat lovers and carers in China. They are like salmon swimming upstream. They are working against the general culture and officials, I firmly sense.
The first example is a story about a lady who rescues cats in Shaghai. She has about 1,000 cats in her care. Yes, that is an impossible number and she knows it. The high number came about because she rescued an entire lorry load of about 860 cats destined to be cat meat on the menu of restaurants. Those were added to the existing high number.
This lady is not a cat hoarder. Definitely not. She is aware of the problems and the unsatisfactory nature of her situation but has to help.
Her husband fiances things. She sold their home worth 2 million yuan (about $300, 000) to continue to fund the cat rescue operation.
It isn’t just the extreme difficulty of caring for way too many cats. She has to contend with neighbours who quite frankly hate her. She has to run a tightrope to keep in with the local police; to get them to accept what she is doing.
Her name is Duo Zirong. The cats rescued from the lorry were in fact bought by another lady for 5,000 yuan which is about $660. The cats were worth less than a dollar a piece in China. Some had collars so were domestic cats belonging to someone.
The whole Duo cat rescue operation seems to be totally desperate 24/7 and I feel for this lady very much. I admire her greatly. She wants people to adopt her cats urgently but is struggling to find candidates.
The following link (opening in a new window) is a scanned page from the Shanghai Times: Cat rescue in China by Duo Zirong
If anyone can help: Contact Duo Zirong at 138-1663-4670, Rooms 108 and 110, No. 2, Lane 3825, Dushi Road. Shanghai, China. This is where she and her cats and husband live:
The next story concerns the cats of Beijing Park, Beijing, China and a cat lover, Wang Lirong, who fed some of them. I believe others did too.
Beijing Park
When it was discovered that a mass slaughter of the park feral/stray cats had occurred there was a spontaneous protest by concerned people. It is pleasing to note that there were people who care about cats in Beijing, China wiling to protest. This is a good sign.
Wang had been feeding the cats for four years. She was told that park officials had arranged for the cats to be killed. Dead cats were also found around the park which is famous and a UNESCO world heritage site. The park officials deny wrong doing. Is it wrong? It is not illegal to kill cats in China because there are no animal welfare laws.
There are some great cat lovers – ailurophiles – in China. Essentially they battle against officials and citizens who don’t care about cats and some who actively want to see them eradicated. That is my distinct impression having for years read about the cats of China.