In contrast to what Westerners might perceive as a generally difficult relationship between Chinese residents and feral cats, a study published on 5 February 2024 concluded that it is primarily a “vulnerable group” of residents which have difficulty in dealing with community cats in the urban environment both in terms of their relationship with the community cats and dealing with the relationship between the cats.
The term ‘vulnerable’ in this instance means poorer and less well educated and living in conurbations with less resources than in large cities. The study was conducted in urban China through a survey involving 5382 participants. Note: the study details are posted at the base of the article.
Further note: despite the relative optimism of this report, we still have to contend with the fact that there are no general animal welfare laws in China (a dire problem) and millions of cats and dogs are brutally killed annually for their skin (to decorate clothes) and their flesh (for human consumption).
Education and resources
What I take from the discussion in the study is that it is the least well educated and the communities with the least resources including financial means, which have difficulty in interacting with community cats. “Community cats” is a better term to describe feral cats in China because they are more genuinely community cats living within the human community and interacting with residents.
Media picture is often overly negative
It is interesting to read that the interaction between residents and community cats is nowhere near as poor as is often described. But it does depend upon where the cats and people live.
They have a four-tier city system in China with the first-tier cities being the largest. The tier system is based upon classifying cities according to their gross domestic product (GDP), their administrative level and their population size. So, for example, a Tier 1 city would be Beijing as would Shanghai and Guangzhou and also Tianjin. The study found that in these conurbations community cats were healthier and interactions between the cats and people were better than in the poorer communities on my interpretation of the study discussion.
For example, I will quote from the discussion:
“The findings indicate that in fourth-tier cities, there are more conflicts between residents and community cats, or more conflicts among residents regarding community cat issues.”
Xuan Gu, lead author of the study.
And:
“First, participants reported that the community cats exhibited poorer health and that there were more frequent conflicts with residents in fourth-tier cities than in other types of cities.”
Xuan Gu, lead author of the study.
Resonable relationship
On the upside, the study says that 60% of the Chinese residents participating in the study “perceived a harmonious or non-conflict coexistence between residents and community cats”. In other words the majority of Chinese residents found no problem with the presence of community cats. Further, 45% of the participants indicated that they had been involved in rescuing or helping the community cats. There was a high level of awareness and concern among residents for the cats in their communities and most of these cats were pretty healthy.
The study states that, “Our survey revealed that 70% of participants reported that all or most community cats were healthy”.
The study came to 3 main conclusions:
Positive: Quite a small proportion of the participants complained about community cat issues and more people were on the positive side by accepting and having a positive attitude towards the cats and on occasions taking proactive action. This contradicts the general reader information which portrays a more negative picture.
Relations dependent on location: Secondly, they concluded that in “fourth-tier cities, urban village communities, and old town communities, specific interventions and attention are necessary for the health status of community cats and the human-cat relationship”. This reinforces what I said above which is that in the fourth-tier cities and the conurbations which have less resources – and where the residents are less well educated – the most problems of various kinds are encountered between people and community cats.
Lower socio-economic group: And thirdly, they state that “people with low educational attainment or lower income, or those who are divorced or widowed, are more likely to file complaints [about the community cats].”
Education important to animal welfare
This last point squares up with people anywhere in the world in my view. Education makes a person more sensitive towards vulnerable community cats. A lack of education tends to bring out a more hostile approach towards community cats because they aren’t aware of the issues such as the fact that community cats are sentient beings put there by careless people. Once that last point is recognised one should have a more sensitive approach towards community cats. Education invariably leads to better animal welfare and conversely a lack of education can lead to animal abuse and this, as mentioned, applies all over the planet.
Study citation
Gu, X.; Zhang, Z.; Peng, G.; Ni, A.; Wang, B.; Xiong, X.; Liu, Y.; Wang, L. A Survey of Public Opinion on Community Cats’ General Health and Relationship Quality with Residents in Urban China. Animals 2024, 14, 525. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14030525
