Helping Stray Animals Find a Home

Clemence Jiang | Nov 13, 2013 11:00 am | Add a comment | 2272 reads

Anyone with a heart hates to see stray animals wandering the streets, especially during winter. Beijing's winters can get ruthlessly cold. But rather than showing a little sympathy or leaving some food, there are ways to help strays with a more long-term solution and find them a welcoming home.

I adopted my dog, Toffee, through an ad I found in the Beijinger Classifieds section a couple of months back. She was rescued by a German family who came across her on the streets with a beggar. The family already had two dogs, but still managed to help Toffee and two more dogs find permanent homes. This led me to the realization that a person who can facilitate a stray finding a new home is equally as important as a potential adopter.

Recently, a toll collector in my neighborhood rescued three unwanted puppies (each around two weeks old) from a nearby village and kept them in a box outside the parking lot. He said he was secretly hoping that passersby would be curious enough to open the box and take them home, but that didn't happen.

After a friend told me about this, I offered to keep the smallest (weakest) one at my place while I looked for a good home for all three.

I quickly created an ad in TheBeijinger.com classifieds section and published a Weibo post which was linked at @北京领养日 and @好狗好猫流浪狗义工团, two of the most influential online adoption platforms in Beijing.

The Beijinger ad received a reply the very next day and a couple came to visit me shortly after and took the smallest puppy away. The couple have been kind enough to keep me updated on his progress, and I'm happy that it seems he is being taken care of from the photos they've sent me.

The Weibo post was quiet before it was forwarded by @北京领养日, and was quickly forwarded over 20 times over the following two days. Several people then sent me private messages saying they wanted to speak to the toll collector about possibly taking the dogs. A couple of days later, both the remaining puppies had been adopted, and the adopters agreed to keep in touch. I plan to have all three adopters and the toll collector in a WeChat group so they can all keep abreast of the progress of the three puppies.

If you are looking for the chance to help stray animals, the Beijing Adoption Day organization (北京领养日) holds monthly events at various venues around Beijing, bringing rescuers, rescued animals and potential adopters together. They recently held their 20th Beijing Pet Adoption Day event at The Place. You can contact them via their Weibo and WeChat (user ID: lingyangri) for your rescued animal to be present at the event.

ICVS (International Center for Veterinary Services) also features rescued and stray animals on their website and offers a Rescued/Stray Pet Adoption Benefits Program where the adopting family can take advantage of a 50 percent discount for vaccinations and spaying/neutering services. You can call 8456 1939/1940 (English service available) or email icvs_china@yahoo.com for the benefits even if the pet is not adopted from the ICVS website.

Furthermore, if you are considering adopting a pet, the column Doggy/Moggy of the Week on the Beijingkids website features one animal for adoption each week. Follow the Weibo accounts of @北京领养日 and @好狗好猫流浪狗义工团, where there are several animals presented for adoption each day.