Rising stray animal population requires support

"We are looking for someone willing to adopt a three-month-old kitty to get her through the cold winter," a non-governmental organization (NGO) wrote in late November on Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter.

The NGO, called "Nanningliulangmao," or "Nanning's Stray Cats," was founded to help stray animals in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Several animal lovers caught wind of the NGO's search online and contacted the organization immediately. After adoption procedures, the cat was taken home by her new owner, who named her "Cindy."

Not every stray animal in China is as lucky as Cindy. The world has entered an era of too many pets, according to the World Health Organization, and an increasing number of them are deserted by their owners and forced to live on the streets, fighting for rubbish every day.

DESERTED ANIMALS

Li Qing, a staff member with a rescue station for stray cats and dogs in Nanning, said one big reason for the soaring number of stray animals is abandonment by their owners.

"Many people buy companion dogs purely on impulse and simply desert the puppies when their initial interest fades, creating a big group of stray dogs," Li said.

Some dogs become lost while the owners walk them, and it can be very difficult to find them, Li said, adding that these dogs either become strays or are caught by dog traffickers and traded on the black market.

Dogs can give birth to litters of as many as ten puppies, so owners often just throw the puppies onto the street because raising them would cost too much, which contributes more to the number of strays, according to Li.

Zhou Keda, director of the Institute of Social Sciences with the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences, said that the concentration of stray animals could cause trouble for human communities and the environment.

"The strays, if not sterilized, saved or adopted properly, could transmit diseases, as they usually live in terrible environments where bacteria, parasites and viruses thrive," Zhou said.

WORRISOME FATE OF STRAYS

The fate of stray animals is also becoming a concern for animal lovers. Stories of animal abuse abound and have generated numerous headlines in recent years in China, causing a wave of public fury and spurring hot debate among the general public about the ethical treatment of strays.

In May, dozens of stray cats were abused and brutally slaughtered in a residential district in Beijing, with the fur of the dead cats almost completely plucked out.

In September, a poster was hung on a wall in a district in Nanning alleging that some people had deliberately put poison in the area and killed a dozen cats. The poster warned people to take care of their pets.

Apart from animal abuse, many abandoned animals are easy victims in China, where in many places dog and cat meat are considered delicacies in the local cuisine.

According to official statistics, more than 10 million dogs and 4 million cats are sold annually in the Chinese market for cooking purposes. Of those sold for food, many are stray or stolen animals, according to Li Qing.

Earlier this year, an annual dog meat festival held every summer solstice in Yulin City in Guangxi faced harsh criticism from experts and animal rights activists, but that did not stop local residents from standing by their tradition.

Local residents butchered tens of thousands of dogs on the streets, then ate the meat alongside lychee, believing the practice keeps illness at bay.

Hong Bin, an activist, said that many of the slaughtered dogs are strays that might have been poisoned.

ROLES OF NGOS

China currently has no law for stray animal protection, and non-governmental organizations play a huge role in caring for the poor animals.

Chongaiyoujia, where Li Qing works, is a Nanning-based NGO for stray cats and dogs established in 2009.

With social media tools like Sina Weibo and QQ, a popular instant messaging service in China, the rescue station searches for stray animals, takes them to hospitals for treatment and looks for people to adopt them. So far, the station has already helped more than 400 cats and dogs find homes.

Similar organizations are springing up in China and providing shelter for the stray animals. According to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China is home to more than 10,000 such NGOs at the moment.

However, rescue stations are facing difficulties as the number of strays is constantly on the rise. Tight budgets and limited land for facilities are pressuring the NGOs to find a solution. Furthermore, without professional teams for animal inspection and quarantine in the stations, diseases can be transmitted.

Another challenge for the NGOs is the lack of legal status. This is the case for Pohome, a Beijing-based stray rescue station that has about 500 volunteers.

Vivien, one of the station's organizers, said that although China is easing the registration polices for social groups, organizations for animal welfare are still easily shut out during the complicated registration process.

"If we are not legally recognized, we will constantly encounter difficulties during our operation," she said.

In addition, many people seem to show little compassion for the strays, and often ridicule volunteers for "showing too much love for animals rather than for street children and school dropouts," Li Qing said, adding that the human indifference and a lack of animal protection laws have contributed to the worsening situation of strays in China.

Shi Ying, a professor with the Shaanxi Academy of Social Sciences, said that the government should offer support for stray animal NGOs to help ease the trouble that these organizations are experiencing.

"For instance, the government could designate certain areas in suburbs or parks for stray animals, where people could donate food and money," Shi said.

Shi suggested that China learn from foreign countries that have done a good job in handling strays.

Canada and the United Statesare home to 7,000 NGOs for strays, which receive government funding as well as donations from the general public, and in Britain, animals are efficiently protected by an animal law passed in 1911 and other laws, according to Shi.

Vivien said that protection of strays needs better press, with the media working to help spread the word among the public.

She said that if people would quit buying pets on impulse, stop overbreeding and abandoning animals, the number of stray animals would decrease.

"In this way, fewer stray animals would die of malnutrition and diseases, be accidently crushed by wheels or brutally skinned by people," she said.