Veterinary center discusses responsibility

 

The seminar attracted 60 animal protection NGO members and volunteers. Photos provided by Chris Gelken/Shirley Han Ying

 

By Chris Gelken and Shirley Han Ying

Pet ownership is a relatively recent trend in China, and while its popularity is increasing, the knowledge required to be a responsible pet owner is not keeping pace. When that cute and cuddly puppy or kitten becomes too much of a burden, it often ends up in an animal shelter run by volunteers – or meets a less optimistic fate.

The International Center for Veterinary Services (ICVS) organized a free seminar December 5 to share information on the best practices in animal rescue and shelter management. It also tackled shelter medicine and how to increase successful adoptions of abandoned pets.

ICVS co-founder Frank Fan discussed the mechanics of running an animal shelter. Apart from financing and funding, he also covered essentials such as the first steps to take when you bring a stray animal to a shelter.

“You’ll need to separate the sick ones from the healthy ones,” he said. “You also need to separate the docile ones from thes with an aggressive nature.”

He said the same principles of running a business apply to running a shelter: how many animals can you help with the resources available?

“Using management skills to run a sheter is very important. You need to set your goals. The question you have to think about is either the quality of care you can provide, or the quantity of animals you will potentially handle,” Fan said.

Visiting US veterinarian Zenithson Ng offered valuable insights into infectious disease control and the difficult subject of euthanasia.

Ng said that a lot needs to be done to improve pet services in China, and it begins with the relationship between owner and pet.

“The human-animal bond really has to take place as part of the culture here in China. People really have to value their animals. They have to have them as part of their families, as part of theirchildren, as part of their loved ones to really understand the human-animal bond, and put these animals on a pedestal and realize they are more than just animals. They are companions,” he said.

Mary Peng, another co-founder of ICVS, explained Trap, Neuter and Release as a viable, inexpensive and humane way of controlling the feral cat populations in Beijing and other Chinese cities.

Besides asking questions, seminar participants also had an opportunity to share some of their experiences in operating animal shelters.

“I think I see hope in our nation’s dog or pet culture,” Jin Yu, a shelter operator, said. “There are so many le taking it seriously and so many kind people who are concerned about this issue. This concern, together with the implementation of an animal protection law in China, will have a major impact to push things forward.”

Xie Zheng, founder of the nonprofit group Don’t Eat Friends, said he was delighted that “teams that promote animal protection can learn a lot of professional knowledge that we normally have no access to.

The organizers said they were pleased with the turnout and the participants’ positive reaction. “We had groups contacting us from Jinan, from Harbin, from Tianjin, from Shenzhen, Xiamen, Guangzhou – all these different provinces,” Peng said. “We realized that we had really struck a chord with the community, with all of these groups, all these individuals that are trying to do their best.”

Peng said part of ICVS’ mission is to offer consultation to group and individuals experiencing problems with rescue and shelter services. With pet ownership becoming more “fashionable,” the problem of pet abandonment is growing; a significant number of animals in shelters were dumd by their foreign owners when their contract in China ended.

“We get lots of calls and lots of emails from families that say, ‘Hey, we are moving to such and such country, and we cannot take our pets with us.’ And this one of the leading causes of abandonment among the international community as the owners simply cannot or will not take the animals with them when they relocate,” she said.

Responsible pet ownership is a core message of ICVS – so if you are considering getting a puppy or a kitten, you should first pause to think. If you are unsure if you can handl the responsibility, then do not get a pet: it is that simple.