Nearly 30 stray dogs are adopted as Animals Asia brings together local authorities and charities to bolster humane animal management.

Animals Asia and two Chinese animal welfare groups met with Public Security Bureau and Ministry of Agriculture officials in China’s south-eastern Jiangxi province recently to improve the treatment of companion animals and strays in the province.

It soon became clear that the local government-run shelter had very low adoption rates – an area where animal welfare charities have strong experience.

A collaboration began and the resulting adoption drive resulted in 29 dogs finding new forever homes.

Animals Asia’s Cat and Dog Welfare Director Irene Feng said:

“This kind of teamwork really proves to the government how valuable our assistance can be. Without the help of the non-profits, the government has struggled to find responsible owners. With us, they have been able to free up space in the shelter to accept more street dogs and help them find forever homes.”  

Due to the success of the initial campaign, the Jiangxi authorities already have plans to work with the charities again on similar projects.

Irene said:

“The authorities were very receptive of all the ideas we put forward and were genuinely eager to work together. Building long-term co-operative relationships requires trust and must be built up over time. Projects like this one are wonderful examples of how we can complement each other’s strengths to help increasing numbers of animals.”

The authorities in Jiangxi have been regular attendees at Animals Asia’s biannual Dog Ownership Management Symposium, which brings together government and non-government organisations to find humane solutions to issues such as strays, rabies and abandoned companion animals.

In recent years, the authorities in the provincial capital of Nanchang have adopted suggestions raised at the conferences such as introducing compulsory vaccinations and reducing fees for registering companion animals.

In 2016, Animals Asia held their seventh annual symposium and the annual gathering is now China’s leading forum on dog management issues. To date, a total of 463 governmental officials from 46 cities throughout China have participated in our symposiums. The eighth symposium will take place later this year.

Animals Asia’s Cat and Dog Welfare work in China is carried out by Ya Dong, a consultancy wholly owned and advised by Animals Asia.

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