Chinas' dogs need our help! Updates

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Animals saved thanks to Chinese welfare groups September 2008
The three Chinese animal welfare groups that Naturewatch is supporting are achieving some fantastic results and helping countless animals across China.
SZCats SZCats in Shenzhen is a leading animal welfare group in China run by a team of dedicated volunteers, who work around the clock to protect cats within their 7802 mile area. The scope of their work has evolved dramatically over the last six years from rescuing and rehoming cats to now also offering a sterilization and release scheme for the stray population, whilst also running education programmes via schools and the media, and coordinating communication and lobbying campaigns.
They recently managed to close down a cat meat restaurant following a public survey about the perception of eating cats and numerous protests that were widely supported by the media. This was pursued by a celebrity billboard campaign throughout the city urging people to stop eating cats.

Changsha Small Animal Protection Society Xiao Xu manages the Changsha Small Animal Protection Society (CSAPS). It has two hundred members, over a thousand supporters and is one of the few organisations to be officially registered with the local Municipality and to receive Government funding to launch a stray animal control programme. Their main focus is on animal rescue and adoption that receives full support from the media including a television station that often invites them for interviews and also allocates time slots to promote animals that need a home.
In addition to running a well-organised shelter with healthy cats and dogs, the team are working hard to educate the public about the benefits of sterilisation, by holding events around the city and offering free sterilisation vouchers to be used at local veterinary clinics. They are currently in the process of designing awareness posters and leaflets to be distributed throughout community centres and veterinary practices, and they are trying to gain some long term publicity from the media. A veterinary training programme is also being planned in parallel with these activities to ensure vets around Changsha exercise high welfare standards.
CSAPS have recently relocated and they have sought expert help to build a shelter that takes animal needs and welfare into account from an international consultant who has a great deal of experience of improving animal welfare standards in many countries. CSAPS hopes their shelter can become a model for others throughout China, demonstrating that a shelter can achieve high welfare standards without the need of advanced facilities and resources.

Xiamen Animal Protection Society The Xiamen Animal Protection Society (XAPS) was founded by Xiao Bing who has a strong relationship with the Municipal Education Department and Propaganda Department. The support from these two departments is the key factor that allows XAPS to enter schools, colleges and universities to promote humane education. Xiao is in the process of developing a humane education programme for students who attend the Xiamen University and Xiamen Art School, consisting of presentations, essay competitions and creating displays on animal sentience and kindness to companion animals. Below is a photograph of the leaflets that have already been printed, ready to be circulated throughout schools.

Please sign our petition
Animal Cruelty in China.

The petition will be presented to the UK Government before travelling to Beijing for the closing ceremony of the Olympics on 24th August 2008.

We’re also collecting MPs, MEPs, celebrities’ and animal welfare group’s signatures for a second petition for the UK Government

SIGN HERE:
http://www.naturewatch.eu/petition/

Update:
I am pleased to announce our petition: Animal Cruelty in China has received a total of 38,266 signatures, and that was very much down to supporters like yourself, signing both our online petition and collecting signatures on paper and mailing them to us.

On behalf of everyone involved with Spotlight on China, both in the UK and in China;
“Thank you!”

To hear how the petition hand over went and to see some photos, please go to our latest news page.

Having lobbied the UK Government on this issue, we now plan to broaden the campaign and turn our attention to the European Parliament and the European Commission. At present we are working to rally support from MEPs throughout the EU with the aim of building yet a greater alliance to put pressure on the Chinese authorities to improve their currently unacceptable animal welfare standards.