(CN) Cats en route to stew pot rescued

[Guest guest]

Cats en route to stew pot rescued

By Zhang Kun

China Daily

2007-07-10

 

SHANGHAI: Cat lovers stopped a truck in suburban

Shanghai's Xinzhuang area carrying more than 800 cats

to diners in Guangdong Province on Friday night.

 

Most of the cats are now at the 270sqm house of Duo

Zirong. The woman, devoted to the rescue of stray

cats, has at times been criticized for confining the

cats in intolerable conditions rather than rescuing

them.

 

Duo found a parking lot where cat trade is carried out

and cats are loaded onto trucks going out of town. She

called the police and stopped one truck. According to

Duo, three trucks loaded with cats left before the

police took action.

 

Duo claimed many of the cats were hers, but the cat

dealers presented documents showing they were from a

farm in Anhui Province, with inspection and

vaccination papers.

 

" The police believed them and would not allow anybody

to take the cats, which were 'private property',

unless we paid, " Duo's mother-in-law, Huo Puyang,

said.

 

" The documents were obviously forged, but the police

accepted them and didn't allow us to unload the cats.

We didn't want to pay for the cats, which would

encourage the trade. "

 

During the hours-long stalemate, people went to the

site after learning about the incident on the web.

Together they collected about 10,000 yuan ($1,300), to

buy all the cats. One woman alone paid 5,000 yuan at

the site.

 

" It's more important that we eradicate this

underground line of business " than press our legal

rights, Huo said.

 

Earlier this year, a truck packed with cats was

stopped in Suzhou, where two crates of cats were

rescued. A train car was found to be loaded with live

cats in the Shanghai South Railway Station. It left

the station despite protests from local animal

protectors.

 

In Guangdong Province, cats are sold for their meat at

15 yuan per kg. " Many people are involved in the

business. A teenager once told me he could make 20,000

to 30,000 yuan per month doing this, " Huo said.

 

About 70 of the rescued cats were taken by netizens

from www.movshow.com, a cat website. They have rented

a house to use as a transfer center for the cats.

 

When the cats recover, their pictures and profiles

will be posted online for adoption. A special fund has

been established from donations to provide for the

rescued cats' care.

 

The other cats are now with Duo and her family. A few

weak pregnant cats and kittens have reportedly died.

 

" The cats live in miserable conditions " with Duo, said

Xu Ying, a bulletin board administrator at movshow.com

and coordinator of the rescue activities.

 

Netizens on Movshow and several other cat-themed

websites agreed that Duo means well but fails to

provide the cats with suitable living conditions.

 

In June, some volunteers working with the cats in

Duo's house opened the house gate to let out nearly

200 cats. Duo spotted the truck while searching for

the cats.

 

" We'd like to get some help, " Huo said, " and find more

space for these cats. They were so frightened. Some

bit people when they tried to let them out of the

boxes. Some still hide in dark corners and will not

come out for food. "

 

(China Daily 07/10/2007 page5)

 

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-07/10/content_5422974.htm

--------------------------------

Woman saves more than 800 cats

By Lu Feiran

Shanghai Daily

2007-7-9

 

A CAT lover is asking for help after rescuing more

than 800 furry felines destined for restaurants in

Guangdong. The cats are now all at her home in Minhang

District.

 

The woman wants people to adopt the cats and ease her

burden.

 

Duo Zirong, 38, blocked a truck containing 840 cats at

Nanfang parking lot in Minhang on Friday night.

 

Duo said she had lost about 100 cats earlier last week

and was convinced the truck had her cats. The truck

was en route to Guangdong Province, where the cats

were scheduled to be delivered to various restaurants.

 

Tao Rongfang, an official with the Shanghai Animal

Protection Association, said she couldn't believe it

when she saw all the cats.

 

" We felt helpless about the matter, as the country

doesn't have a law on animal abuse, "

Tao said.

 

Duo said she spotted two trucks carrying cats, but one

fled before she could do anything.

 

" The cats were squeezed into small cages, " Duo said.

" Most were in bad shape. Some even wore a collar,

which means they belonged to someone. "

 

She called the police. The cats were rescued after

police and officials from the Shanghai Animal

Protection Association arrived. Nonetheless, Duo had

to buy the cats to save them.

 

" The cat dealers asked for 30,000 yuan (US$3,866), but

I bargained the price down to 7,800 yuan, " Duo said.

 

She said 10 were dead and the others had various

wounds and diseases. Some had broken legs, others had

high fevers.

 

Duo and several volunteers started caring for the

felines immediately.

 

" We fed them and dealt with the wounds, " Duo said. " I

haven't slept for two days. "

 

Duo said most of the cats needed to see a veterinarian

for better medical care. " We can't keep this many cats

at home. They need food, inoculation injections and

sterilization operations. "

 

Duo and her family have taken care of more than 1,000

cats, including the ones rescued on Friday, since she

started taking in street felines 12 years ago.

 

Because of the cats, the family has been forced to

move about a dozen times. Most neighbors complained

about the smell, the noise the cats make while in heat

every spring and the possibility of diseases.

 

" People hate my cats, and they kill them, cut their

tails, dig out their eyes, and drop the body at my

door, " she said. " Sometimes I feel like I'm going

crazy, but I would hate to part with my cats. "

 

Duo said the family has spent more than two million

yuan taking care of cats. " On one hand I hope more

people can take the cats home; on the other hand, I'm

worried that they won't treat them right, " she said.

 

Duo said one day she would like to buy a hill for the

cats, when her boyfriend, an economic analyst, has

enough money. " On the hill a Buddhism temple will be

constructed, and I'll pray for the cats, hoping they

will no longer be cats in their next life. "

 

The association said Duo's deeds are touching, but not

practical.

 

" The health of so many cats cannot be guaranteed

within such a packed space, not to mention humans, "

said Tao. " And one day she'll be cornered, and no one

will want her, her family, and her increasing numbers

of cats. "

 

The association, however, hasn't worked out a way to

solve the problem of street cats in Shanghai even

though it calls on people to volunteer to take cats to

the vet for sterilization.

 

" We try to persuade more people to take cats home

under our sponsorship, " Tao said. " But cats have

strong reproducing power, and we don't think the

problem can be fully solved until a regulation is

issued. "

 

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=322680 & type=Metro

 

==================================================

 

[Poster's comment: Readers may remember Duo Zirong

from a post about her on AAPN last year. In case

anyone is interested, here is the post again:]

 

Dec. 24, 2006

 

(CN) Duo Zirong ~ Shanghai

 

Duo Zirong is an ethnic Daur woman who cares for stray

cats. The following photos/news covers the period June

2005 to March 2006 when she was in Shanghai. She was

forced to move again (perhaps to Hangzhou) and there

is no further news of her available.

---------------------------

Duo Zirong And The Cats

 

[Poster's note: Some of the Album-online photos use

the phrase " Duo Zirong breeding cats " but what they

mean is that she is raising them/caring for them.

However, it is not clear if all the cats are

neutered.]

 

-Album-online Images:

 

Fotográfico

15/06/2005

Datong Village, Fengxian District, Shanghai

 

http://www.album-online.com/prensa/verreportaje.php?idrep=5684

.........................

-China Foto Press Images:

 

A CAT IS FOR LIFE, NOT ONLY FOR CHRISTMAS

China Foto Press

October 24, 2005

Shanghai

 

A Cat is for Life, not only for Christmas

 

In the developing china, pets become a lifestyle, just

like economists said, " All wealthy like golf. " But

pets are not always lovely, some of them bite people,

some of them are dirty; and person need pay tax for

their pets in big city. These are why so many people

abandon their pets. Vagabond cats and dogs procreate

more and more offspring that make a vicious spiral.

Vagabond animals groan under peoples, their livability

is very low. Nowadays people earnestly appeal human

rights, however how many people will notice animal's

living right? The following is the people touched me:

There are at least 217 vagabond dogs and 126 cats are

lucky, because their foster [mother] Lu Di, the

retired Chinese professor of Renmin University of

China, who is the chairman of China Small

Animal Protect Association and a seventy years old

[woman]. Zhuang Yunhua fosters over thirty cats in

Beijing; and her work affects the surround. 47 years

old lady Zhang Wenqin takes care of seventy nine cats.

 

In this year 2005, I now surprised a [vagrant] cats

family in Shanghai; I find the world is still warm.

There are over two hundreds members in the big family,

include four human, Grandfather Liu Bao, Grandmother

Huo Puyang, father Liu Junluo and mother Duo Zirong.

Liu Bao is the son of martyr Liu Bojian. His wife

Huo Puyang is a retired researcher. Liu Junluo is

their only son, an economist. Duo Zirong studied in

Beijing University of ; now she takes

care of cats in full time. Their house located at the

end of No.1 line underground, near a sand road. You

can see many bells on the wire netting, doors and

windows, all cats and dogs will welcome the guest. Duo

Zirong, 30 years old, has brightness of mellow female,

damsel's face and children's character. His husband

named her " Zirong Ketty " and she calls him " Luoluo "

Liu Junluo's original subject was engineering, now the

economist is the main support of the family. Duo

Zirong was a doctor; now she is a full time mum of

cats. These two intellectual persons put their heart,

sense and allowance into the two hundreds cats. Family

Liu's life encircles cats; men make money and women

take care of their children. Talking about the

beginning with cats, the old grandmamma said, " Junluo

is a child full of heart " . When he was a little boy,

he tried to save a small cat in the rubbish. Then he

fell [in] love with his girl friend Zirong, they

wanted to help [vagrant] animals. Grandmother asked

them must be responsibility for them three score years

and ten! From 1996, they helped more and more poor

animals and removed three times in the last nine

years. Duo Zirong often cured ailing and handicapped

cats. Once upon a time she found a box with seven

cats, which only two were living; one of them had the

bleeding eyes. She could not believe that some body

made their fun on the animals' life. She never works

hardier than now, she said: " cats need not only food

but also love. " she tries her best to make a warm

family for these cats with grandmother. Each new

member termly has vaccination, lustrates inside and

outside parasite and swabs down. All of them have

emdical certificate and almost boys are neutes. Duo

Zirong is a professional veterinarian and feeder now.

Cats' breakfasts are muscle, lunches are fish and the

dinners are well-fed food made by Duo Zirong. She also

notices the environmental cleanliness. In July 2002,

News Guangdong first recorded their story, which made

the surprise to their neighbors. Because they did not

know there were so many cats in the house. We can know

how busy their life is with the following timetable:

05:00 am. Duo Zirong wake up and clear cats litter.

07:00 am. Duo Zirong awaken grandmother 08:00 am. Liu

Junluo goes out to buy the food. 09:00 am. Duo Zirong

cooks cats' breakfasts. Liu Junluo goes to work. 10:00

am. Duo Zirong clean the room. 12:00 am. Lunch 14:00

pm. Duo Zirong nurse the ailing cats. 16:00 pm. Dinner

17:00 pm. Duo Zirong nurse the ailing cats. 18:00 pm.

Duo Zirong prepares twenty five Anti Mosquitoes in the

house. 19:00 pm. Duo Zirong cooked special food for

ailing cats. 20:00 pm. Change the Anti Mosquitoes.

24:00 pm. Change the Anti Mosquitoes. 03:00 am. Change

the Anti Mosquitoes. " A lot of kindhearted people help

us. " Duo Zirong remembered; an old man of Datong seed

towel gourd near their fencing as the homemade

vegetable. After the report of Shanghai TV station,

more and more people presented their warm with materia

medica, foods and the other material. For families'

support, for friends' help, for cats' need and love,

Duo Zirong will not give up for ever.

 

http://en.chinafotopress.com/index/onegroup?gid=788486

 

[Photos on the page]

.........................

-Getty Images:

 

February 14, 2006

 

SHANGHAI, CHINA - FEBRUARY 14:

 

Chinese woman Duo Zirong shows an adopted stray cat to

a neighbor on February 14, 2006 in Shanghai, China.

Duo Zirong, a Daur ethnic minority group woman from

Inner Mongolia and reported as the " Cat Woman " , has

housed about 300 cats with her Shanghainese husband

Liu Junluo and mother-in-law. Duo started to keep

stray

cats since she saved the first cat nine years ago,

when she and her husband were rich businessmen. Now

they became impoverished because of adopting the stray

cats. They live in a shabby house with hundreds of

cats in the Datong Village of Fengxian District on the

fringe of Shanghai. The expense on cats takes over

20,000 yuan (about USD 2,481) each month. The whole

family makes ends meet by the income of the husband's

fuel futures business.

 

http://editorial.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx

.........................

Neighbours force cat woman to turn tail

02/16/2006

 

A Shanghai woman who kept more than 200 stray cats has

been pressured into moving as neighbours complained

her feline army disturbed them.

 

Duo Zirong, who started taking in cats nine years ago,

recently decided to flee to the quiet suburbs of

Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province.

 

There she said she hopes to lead a quiet life with her

furry companions.

 

Source: China Daily

http://english.zjol.com.cn/05english/system/2006/02/16/006477932.shtml

..........................

300 strays rescued by Shanghai woman soon to be

homeless again

Zhang Kun

Shanghai_Delta

2006-3-10

 

A woman who adopted nearly 300 cats is being forced to

move out of her residence but so far, no potential

landlord has been willing to accept her.

 

Duo Zirong, 36, has been adopting stray animals, most

of them cats, together with the family of her

boyfriend Liu Junluo, for the past 10 years.

 

Duo moved several times during the past few years,

finally settling down in a two-storey country house in

suburban Shanghai's Fengxian District. However a

neighbour complained about the noise and smell of the

cats. Last December, Duo and Liu had a fight with the

neighbour, and Liu's mother was slightly injured.

 

The landlord told Duo that he would not renew the

lease on the house when it expired at the end of

February. After some bargaining, the landlord finally

let them stay until April 10. With the local

government's intervention, Duo agreed to move into an

empty factory building in Liaoyuan Farm. The local

authorities also promised to help her turn the place

into a cat shelter. But the farm refused to let the

cats in, for fear of potential " troubles, " according

to an unidentified source.

 

" I don't know about the future. I don't think about

it, " Duo told China Daily Shanghai & Delta. " We have

been through this several times. There will be a way

out in the end. "

 

Duo picked up her first stray cat from Xinhua Road in

1996. Then she started to feed stray cats. " Then I

went into their lives, deeper and deeper. "

 

When she found sick, pregnant, injured cats or small

kittens, she took them home. Liu's parents, who lived

on Xinhua Road, would bring back cats as well. Duo had

each of her adopted cats neutered or spayed, but the

cat population grew rapidly until now it numbers

nearly 300.

 

" I wish all cats could play freely out there, with

plenty to eat and nobody hurting them, " Duo said. " But

once they go out, they are hurt and even killed. "

 

Duo believes that all the danger comes from human

beings. " Few cats die from traffic accidents.

Basically it's all human cruelty. "

 

Even if there was a law against such conduct, Duo

doesn't think it would stop the problem soon. For the

time being, her greatest wish is to have her boyfriend

make lots of money in the stock and futures markets,

so they can afford a new place for the cats.

 

" I would love to co-operate with any organization, "

Duo said. When she became widely known as the woman

who takes in stray cats, several people approached

her, offering to send her more cats.

 

" I can't take any more, " she said. " I would have taken

more if we could move to a bigger place. "

 

Duo said her life now is " totally dark, scared every

day, worse than death. "

 

" I used to think, it was the responsibility of the

whole society to care for these animals. How come I am

the one to shoulders it alone? "

 

Duo tried to explain her reason for doing this. " I

would pick up earthworms crawling on the road after

rain and place them back in safe places. I want

everything to be safe and comfortable, " she said.

 

" My youth is mostly gone. Life goes on so quickly. My

boyfriend once asked me, 'What else can you do besides

keeping cats?' I gave up all my hobbies and my studies

in Chinese medicine and psychology. "

 

According to Sun Xiang, a reporter for the Oriental

Morning Post, Duo and her boyfriend were once

well-off. " She could have lived a better life, but

now, she

and her boyfriend live like poor peasants, " Sun said.

 

http://www.shanghai-star.com.cn/Shanghai_Delta/Shanghai_Delta_news.asp?lv1=1 & lv2\

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