During our Professor Paws Fun Day in Shenzhen, southern China last month, it was an absolute pleasure to meet an amazing group of middle school students, called “Shaonian HuanBao Pai”, who made their feelings about eating dogs and cats clear.

Here, resplendent in their "Say No to Cat and Dog Meat" T-shirts, they joined our event and posed happily for the media and our cameras, before winning a prize in the "2nd International Creativity in Social Service and Awareness Competition" for their anti-dog-and-cat eating project".

This project entailed carrying out a campaign in the community, with a survey and charity sale, plus events held at their school (Nan Shan Middle School Attached Beijing Normal University) in Shenzhen. Helped throughout this time by our Shenzhen staff member, Jessica Zhu (above, left), they were given particular credit by the judges of the competition as they responded to questions with confidence and intelligence about why dogs and cats deserve to be companions in the community rather than food.

One of the judges, Chen Li, Deputy Director of Shenzhen Project Care, said, "It's a wise and good way to look for help from professional groups such as Animals Asia, and a great way to combine the students’ activities with Professor Paws towards the long-term goal of calling for the Animal Protection Act". Ms Chen also said she hoped that more schools in China would adopt similar activities.

Not surprisingly, the students impressed the judges so much that they walked away with the First Prize, and 10,000 RMB for their ongoing project development.

A huge and heartfelt thank you to all the students for spreading the message supporting our very best four-legged friends and their right be our friends, not food.