East China Normal University in Shanghai is home to at least 13 stray dogs (流浪狗). Every night, members of the university's animal protection club are happy to walk the dogs. As soon as a dog-walking notice is put up in a WeChat group, the walking task will be taken in a few minutes.
"We make a plan for walking dogs at the beginning of each term, but there are always changes, so we'll call for help in our WeChat group,"said Xie Yifan, a member of the club. "It seems that this year more students have joined the club, so stray dogs have become ‘rare' (稀有的). "
The animal protection club was started in 2004. Stray dogs and stray cats were once a problem at the university. The dogs chose to live at the university because of the large green spaces and friendly students there, but they caused safety problems for people. To protect dogs and people at the university, some students then decided to build a kennel (狗舍). There are 13 dogs living in the kennel now.
"Taking care of these stray dogs and cats isn't very easy," Xie said. The work of the club members includes cleaning the kennel, bathing the dogs, and taking them to animal hospitals to have a health examination. The cost comes from the club's activity fund and income (收入) from selling creative products.
Instead of keeping them in the kennel, the club members hope the stray dogs can be adopted (收养). They hope to find forever homes for them.
