Foshan – Hiding from view
Tucked away in a mountainous area in Southern China is an animal shelter that knows all about having to relocate. In 2015, the Cozy Home Animal Shelter near Foshan in Guangdong province was forced to move out of the Jinsha wetland park. It found another place not far away but had to spend money on renovations.
As we try to visit on the last Sunday in March (the shelter is only open once a week) it is not easy to find. The roads are rough, it’s raining and the online map is not much help. The man in charge, Zhijian Chen, guides up by phone, although he’s reluctant to let the taxi driver know the exact location, so we do our best on our own.
Even before we arrive, we can hear the barking of the dogs. The shelter is a house next to an abandoned factory, hidden in the woods, surrounded by green trees.
When we get there, we find out why Mr Chen doesn’t want too many people to know about it. He says the shelter has done some interviews for TV stations, newspapers and other media, after which questions and defamatory statements about the volunteers appeared online, questioning their sincerity.
A Growing Problem
There are an estimated 140,000 dog owners in Foshan, keeping more than 150,000 pets, but there are only three social organisations in the city to help stray dogs and cats. In recent years, with the increasing number of dog owners, the number of stray dogs has been increasing year by year.
The shelter was established in 2005 as a non-governmental, non-profit organisation run by a group of people concerned about the living conditions of abandoned animals and their health. At present, the shelter houses about 50 rescued dogs. The monthly cost of caring for them all is about 5,000 to 10,000 yuan, which comes from personal donations. All animals are up for adoption for free, the stipulation being that they go to caring and responsible owners.
Mr. Chen says with the continuous improvement in China’s economy, people's quality of life is getting better and better. The number of people who keep pets in Foshan is also gradually increasing, and the accompanying problems of pet management are gradually emerging. Many animals are abandoned by people due to illness, old age, disability and other reasons, living on the streets, even being wounded and tortured to death. Most of the stray dogs have wounds when they are found.
Today a group of students has come to the shelter to be volunteers. Their organiser Junming Chen says they are from the Youth Association of Foshan University. The volunteers helped give the stray dogs a bath, trim their hair, take them for walks and clean. All of them seem experienced and careful. Junming really likes stroking and comforting the dogs to calm them down.
Mental Health
Every bit of care helps for animals who’s mental wellbeing has often been overlooked, according to Mr. Chen. Some of the dogs are active and willing to be close to us. But there are others that have stayed in the shelter for a long time and, while taken good care of by volunteers, find it hard to trust humans again after what they have been through. A typical example is a dog that gave birth after arriving at the shelter. It had psychological problems after being abandoned. Mr. Chen shows us its puppies, Nainai and Tutu, which are sitting quietly in the cage. Although they haven’t suffered from the pain of being abandoned, they look scared and restless because of their mother’s influence. When they have a chance to play outside, unlike the other dogs, they need to go back into the cage quickly.
Mr Chen cares a lot about the dogs’ mental health (see video) and says that while humans have psychologists to help solve our problems, even then it’s not easy to cure mental illness, and the situation is much trickier for dogs. That’s one of the cruel legacies of being mistreated and abandoned.