Original title: Should stray cats be fed? Shanghai Chinese and foreign residents jointly discuss the "meow" plan

China News Network Shanghai, June 15, by wire

Zheng Yingying, reporter of China News Network

Le Gaixi, a French girl who has lived in Shanghai for many years, has three cats. As a young people who love cats and dogs, she often puts some food in her bag that can be fed to cats, and feeds stray cats in suitable places.

Life and work in big cities are under great pressure, and people's feelings for pets are particularly strong. Should stray cats be fed? In Shanghai, an international metropolis, residents are "tangled" about it.

Xu Shiyin, Secretary of the General Party Branch of Lier Residential Area, Dapuqiao Street, Huangpu District, Shanghai, said that some caring people only feed cats when they feed them. The leftover food will breed mosquitoes and bacteria, which will have a certain impact on the environment of the community.

Her views represent the views of some Shanghai residents. Some residents believe that if cat lovers really love cats, they will take stray cats home instead of feeding them in public places.

Le Gaixi said, "If you like it (stray cat), you can take it home. I have done this for several times, but my family is not so big. If you like it, you can take it home. In fact, it depends on the conditions."

Huangpu District, where Le Gaixi lives, is located in the center of Shanghai, where there is a lot of land and money. From July 2023 to now, relevant government service departments in Huangpu District have received 61 work receipts of convenience hotline for stray cats. In these work receipts, some residents are not satisfied with the treatment of stray cats, and some residents are not satisfied with the treatment of stray cats.

Whether stray cats are fed or not has become a difficult problem in community governance, and the community has been trying to find a solution.

Ding Wenliang, Secretary of the General Party Branch of the Huilong Residential Area, Dapuqiao Street, Huangpu District, told that in 2018, there were 58 stray cats in the Huilong Residential Area, which really brought a lot of trouble to the residents of the community. So the cat lovers in the community formed a volunteer team, which did several things: First, sterilize the stray cats in the community; 2、 Guide stray cats to specific activity areas through scientific feeding; 3、 Through online and offline channels, we guided love claim and found a warm home for stray cats. In the past five years, 16 stray cats in this residential area have been claimed by love.

"Our community has entered the 3.0 version of stray cat management since 2023, and introduced the 'Smart Cat House', which can observe the status of stray cats through the camera at any time," Ding Wenliang said.

Not only Huangpu District, but also in Changning District of Shanghai and Lvba Residential Area of Xinjing Town, there is a volunteer team of "Seven Fairies" who care for stray cats. Liu Guanxi, Secretary of the General Party Branch of Lvba Neighborhood in Xinjing Town, remembers that it was 2016. There were many stray cats in the community, and sometimes the elderly and children would be bitten when basking in the sun on the square, which triggered community conflicts.

As a "grassroots gatekeeper", Liu Guanxi immediately became nervous, and quickly gathered the cat loving aunts in the community. "Seven aunts, we call them 'Seven Fairies' in private, and these enthusiastic volunteers immediately launched the' Cat Census'."

After 90 stray cats were found in the "cat population census", the residential area began to "move from east to west". Liu Guanxi said that there is a suitable place in the west of the community. After the "East cat moves west", it has become a favorite paradise.

Although we have explored and accumulated experience, we should continue to invest human and financial resources to care for stray cats in the community. "Should stray cats be fed?" It is difficult to have a unified "standard answer" to the question in Shanghai, a civilized and open international metropolis.

Sheng Wenwei, Deputy Secretary of the General Party Branch of Shanghai Animal Disease Prevention and Control Center, did not approve of feeding stray cats. In his opinion, although cats are good, we should understand how stray cats came from. "If the first reason is abandonment, loss and other reasons leading to the emergence of stray cats, then the 'second generation of stray cats' and the' third generation of stray cats' must be wild animals, and we should try not to affect them."

But for some cat lovers, the "survival rules" mentioned by Sheng Wenwei may be understandable, but it is difficult to follow. Because stray cats live near urban people, caring people will inevitably feel distressed after seeing them.

In the opinion of Huang Xiaochun, dean of the School of Social Sciences of Shanghai University, behind the question of "should stray cats be fed?", the essence is a social problem and a governance problem. "Behind feeding and not feeding, we need to create a governance system so that different opinions can be exchanged, the system can be established, and the rules can be formed."