Dog and cat shelters destroyed by floods in China

11 August 2020

Volunteers move dogs to new premises

You might not always associate monsoons with China, but like many of their Southeast Asian counterparts, Southern China experiences an annual monsoon during the summer months. 

This year, the continuous downpours have caused two animal rescue shelters in the Guangxi region to flood and become uninhabitable. They reached out to Animals Asia to ask for support in getting their animals to safety and in rebuilding their facilities.

The Lv Ye Mao Zong Stray Cat Yard and the Niao Shu Stray Dog Shelter are home to 28 cats and 21 dogs respectively, all of whom were rescued from the streets after being abandoned, or from the dog and cat meat trade.

This is the second time this year the cat shelter has flooded, causing loss of medicines, food, and irreparable damage to the living areas. Because of the sudden upheaval and lack of quarantine facilities, many of the cats have suffered from stress and illness spread between cats with two kittens tragically losing their lives.

In addition to being flooded, the dog shelter received sudden notice from their landlord, so the volunteers had to immediately locate new premises. Unfortunately, the building they secured had no water, electricity, ventilation, or separate areas, so the dogs were cramped together in very poor conditions

Cat and Dog Welfare Director Suki Deng said: “Thankfully, the rains have now stopped in Guangxi, so work can begin on rebuilding the shelters and there is a lot to do! The shelter volunteers have been amazing in sourcing immediate supplies and funds, but the damage was so extensive, it was simply not enough to get the facilities up and running again.”

Animals Asia quickly responded to the sanctuaries’ requests for help, and have so far donated essential items such as cat and dog beds, food and medical supplies; installed fences, quarantine areas and sewage works; and helped build fences, floors and enrichment areas.

The emergency support we provided means that the sanctuaries can continue their amazing work in rescuing and rehabilitating vulnerable cats and dogs both today and in the future - an estimated 600 animals in the next three years alone!

Animals Asia has also continued to support animal shelters impacted by the Covid19 outbreak in Wuhan, China. Our first delivery of 4.6 tons of food was followed by a second batch delivered to local shelters totaling 1.7 tons of cat food. This has helped to feed 296 cats in five shelters. We have also provided 416 vaccines and 154 neuter surgeries for local cats and dogs. In addition, we established a communications network for the local shelters to keep track of the urgent needs of the animals as well as animal numbers across different volunteer-run shelters. Our team also ran a public engagement campaign on the Chinese social media platform WeChat which resulted in a generous donation of materials from a local company.

You can donate to support the rebuilding of the cat and dog shelters here. Keep an eye on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages for future updates on our work with local the shelters.

Our Cat and Dog Welfare team work so hard and during these multiple crises they’ve been really challenged and stepped up for the companion animals that need them most. We couldn’t do this without your continued support.


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