Pet charity in urgent appeal for aid

　　A Beijing-based animal protection NGO is appealing for help as they are running out of money to support the many stray animals they take in.

The charity has collected thousands of yuan in donations in two days but still needs more.

The non-profit China Small Animal Protection Association (CSAPA), posted on Sina Weibo Monday that the 800 stray dogs and 100 cats living in their office and animal shelters are struggling with insufficient food.

"Insufficient food supply and building our dog shelters have caused us to struggle every day trying to make ends meet. We owe more than 20,000 yuan ($3,164) to the animal food supplier and don't have the money to pay our employees," Wang Guiyuan, vice chairman of the association told the Global Times.

Food for the strays costs more than 3,000 yuan per month, and the association spends around 160,000 yuan monthly on operating costs, including animal food, medical care and employees' salaries, Wang said.

"We never know how long our food and money will last, since the amount of donations is not stable," he said, explaining that Lu Di, the association head who has been collecting donations with her connections for the past 17 years, is ill and the association is having a harder time than ever.

The association posted their bank account and contacts online and currently has received more than 10,000 yuan in donations. The money will be enough for the animals for five days, said an association employee, surnamed Song.

"We may have an easier time in several days but still need more money," he said. The association has no vets of its own, and the cost for medical care for the strays is some 30,000 yuan per month.

"We failed to hire medical staff for our association since people are unsatisfied with the working environment and pay," said Song.

Many Web users have left encouraging comments for the starving animals, but some expressed concerns over CSAPA's operation system.

"It's not going to work in the long term by receiving donations only. What if fewer [people] or nobody donates?" said a local resident surnamed Yao, who works for an advertising company in Beijing that has been sending 10,000 yuan per month to the association to help animals since 2006.

CSAPA needs more publicity by organizing residents to visit its animal shelters, one in Haidian district, and one in Changping district, so that people can know about their real conditions and be willing to donate, Yao said.

Her company is planning to build an animal hospital which will offer free treatment for the association's animals, she added, and will spend a large amount of money to help improve the animal shelters' facilities and living environment for the dogs.

"Posting details of how they use the donated money is better, so that people who donate can be reassured that their money is not being wasted or used corruptly," she suggested.

Deng Guosheng, director of the NGO Research Center at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times that all non-profit organizations face the same problem when it comes to collecting funds and donations, especially animal protection organizations which may receive less attention from the public.

"My suggestion is don't do too much that is beyond their capability, and broaden their connections and improve their social influence," Deng said.　

The association is currently planning on a more organized operation system, said Wang. They will have their dogs sterilized, microchipped, and have pictures taken and offer them up for adoption, he said.