Abuse / Neglect Complaints

We often get calls from concerned and upset people who are finding abused animals or are witness to cruelty against, and neglect of, domestic companion animals. Unfortunately, there is very little that SCAA can directly do against these practices. There are currently no animal protection laws in China, and there is little that we can do to intervene without very real physical risk to our volunteers. A person who would beat their dog is just as likely to beat a human being who attempts to intervene, especially a foreigner who is making them lose face in front of other people. Signing petitions does not work at this point in time and is more likely to find the organizers deported (although this might make a good newspaper story, it doesn’t help the issue at hand).

If you witness an animal being neglected or physically abused, and think you might be able to communicate with the animal owner, you might be able to offer to take the animal off their hands; we do not recommend offering cash to get the animal, as the offender might realize there is a business in this and you’ll be finding more animals to save very quickly. If you do not speak Chinese, and the animal owner is local, perhaps you can enlist the help of a local friend to translate.

If you are able to get the animal released to you, then SCAA can help. If you are willing to foster the animal (and remember by saving the animal, you have taken on the responsibility of caring for it), we can help you get a discount at PAW for an immediate medical check-up and on a case-by-case we may be able to help with financial support. We cannot take an animal in our physical possession, but we can help you advertise the animal as a priority adoption case on our website and in our monthly meetings…if you care enough to save an animal in desperate circumstances, we will certainly try to help you as much as we can, but PLEASE don’t ask us to intervene or pick up an animal ourselves…we are not a shelter and we do not have transportation on a regular basis. We are not here to assuage your guilt or to be a dumping ground for stray animals considered to be a nuisance, but we are here to help you help an animal you choose to rescue.