admin     2015年4月22日 17:01

Portrait of Rescuer Wu Ayi, by Best Friends China – April 2015 When one first enters Wu Ayi's soon-to-be demolished lane house, the first impression is “Wow, how does she take care of so many creatures all by herself???” There are over 50 cats and 5 dogs living there and perhaps in an attempt to maintain some element of calm for both the animals and visitors, a buddhist chant plays a refrain in the background constantly. Wu Ayi is now 62, happily retired and devoting her days to rescuing and caring for stray and abandoned animals in her neighbourhood. BEST FRIENDS CHINA (www.bestfriendschina.org/en) has been working with Wu Ayi for years, helping her find forever or foster homes for her many cats, and occasional dogs, offering her exposure through regular adoption days. She first moved to Shanghai in the early 90s and began working as a book-keeper in a warehouse. This warehouse would not only provide Wu Ayi a job but, a place to live. When her boss asked her to “pick up a cat to help with the rat problem”, she sought out a grey tabby, given that these were considered by most farmers to be the best “rat catchers”. This particular tabby would change Wu Ayi's relationship with cats forever. Not only did she outdo herself in depopulating the unwanted rats but she showed Wu Ayi how cats can be affectionate and loving, constantly seeking cuddles and playtime. Portrait of Rescuer Wu Ayi, by Best Friends China – April 2015 It has been 20 years since her first cat and Wu Ayi hasn’t looked back since, rescuing over 2000 to date. She’s become known to her neighbours for it, and some of her local fish vendors will even sell her fish at a discounted price for the feline family. Despite close quarters these cats are lovingly cared for and all remain in excellent health. They are all regularly vaccinated and enjoy a plentiful and nutritious diet. This nurturing environment has become infamous, along with Wu Ayi, as a cat haven but on the flip side has now resulted in many “door step drop offs” of even more abandoned cats. Luckily for her (and not least the animals) Wu Ayi is not alone in her rescue mission. Alongside BEST FRIENDS CHINA, there are many retired local women who have devoted their lives to help strays in need around them. It provides them with a support network for each other as well which is necessary in reflection of the sheer amount of animals involved. They have all seen a disturbing growth in the amount of these animals too. “In the 90s there were not as many strays around” she says, “But as owning pets became more and more popular, sadly it also saw more pets abandoned which resulted in more uncontrolled Portrait of Rescuer Wu Ayi, by Best Friends China – April 2015 birth and more and more strays appearing in each community”. This is why she is also a great advocate for spaying and neutering the cats before she puts them up for adoption. So how does she keep her spirits up and remain motivated after all these years? Wu Ayi credits her Buddhist belief in “Doing good deeds with your whole heart and not just praying for good things to come to you”. She says, she concentrates on the fact that if she can save one animal and find it a good family this makes her happy. It’s enough to keep her going. It’s a lot of work for an elderly woman though so fortunately her son is also an animal lover and supports his mother in whatever he can. This includes trips back and forth to veterinary clinics for sick animals, administering the feeds etc. It is not just time and physical spend however. The upkeep of all these rescues costs Wu Ayi around 3000RMB a month. Most of this comes straight from her pension with some contributions/support from other animal lovers. BEST FRIENDS CHINA and Wu Ayi have been working in collaboration to educate people and highlight the lack of animal protection laws in China. It is a positive relationship with BFC aiding Wu Ayi to find adoptive homes for some of her rescues so far through the website, adoption events and network of BFC contacts. There is however concern from her end, and not unduly, about receiving any kind of publicity. Whilst she is happy that more and more young people are willing to adopt a rescue rather than buy a pure bred, there are also those people who find out about her and just come to abandon another life at her door. No-one has energy, space and money to take in unlimited stray animals, but Wu Ayi continues to help the cats and dogs in her neighbourhood. “””’“I really wish people could take more responsibility for their kindness and take care of their own rescues” she laments, and at a time in her life when most of us would be kicking back and relaxing, one tends to agree. She mentions that she wishes to be able to travel the world like everyone else, though she has never yet flown in an airplane. With all the responsibility on her at present however she never can leave home for too many hours. The list of chores with that amount of animals is infinite. Knowing her however, she’d probably miss all those cats and dogs too much to leave them :-)