The Situation
The situation of stray cats in Beijing is severe. According to a report by BBC in 2014, there are more than 200,000 stray cats in Beijing.
The situation of stray cats in Beijing is severe. According to a report by BBC in 2014, there are more than 200,000 stray cats in Beijing.
Furthermore, the living conditions of Beijing stray cats are critical. In addition to the usual problems of harsh weather and difficulty in finding food, stray cats are also impacted by rapid urbanization and human presence. An article on Microblog Charity reports that a six-year-old kitten was tangled up in the bike chain of an electric bicycle, causing the deformation of her front paws and the ulceration of her back paws, revealing the white bones underneath. (北京市众安公益基金会, n.d.)
The stray cat population in Beijing is slowly getting out of control, while the living conditions of stray cats are rapidly deteriorating. In fact, Worms & Germs Blog states that an estimated 4 million cats are slaughtered for food each year in China's illegal cat meat trade (Weese, 2023).
In addition, cats are efficient hunters, and too many stray cats can cause a decrease in the native wildlife population. A research recorded by the National Library of Medicine estimates that 6.3-22.3 billion mammal deaths and 1.3-4 billion bird deaths are annually caused by cats in the US (Tan et al., 2020). This destruction of local wildlife needs to be stopped.
Lastly, stray cats can cause a negative decrease in the living environment of people. Cats can carry diseases, make noise, and produce odors.
The cause for such a large number of stray cats is that people usually buy cats and other pets for personal reasons. They do not understand the responsibilities of taking care of pets, so they often abandon their pets because they either do not have enough time or money.
Another major factor that led to the enormous number of stray cats in Beijing is their incredible reproduction speeds. The same BBC report (2014) states that "One female cat giving birth to three or four litters every year could add as many as 100 cats to the stray population in its lifetime". This is an immense addition to the already huge stray cat population.
To address this problem, our organization has put out shelters where stray cats are frequently seen. These shelters are situated in Xingcheng Guoji Apartments, providing food, water, and sanctuary for stray cats.
Furthermore, we have put out posters near popular pet shops to educate people about the responsibility of cat care, which will decrease the number of stray-cat-disown cases due to the unreadiness of owners.
Since putting out the posters and shelters, we have gotten a lot of satisfactory responses from fellow residents in our community. Messages were sent to us asking how they could help and we have seen cases of stray cats being mistreated less often than before.
We think that Beijing citizens should all play a part in helping stray cats because by addressing this problem, we could not only give stray cats a better life but also provide Beijing with a better environment. Please contact us through the contact page for any concerns, and if you don't mind, leave us a generous donation! Thanks