Unbeknownst to most Beijingers, a literally “little” dog shelter is nestled to the side of a main road near Europlaza. It houses 29 dogs currently up for free adoption, and is a subsidiary of another shelter in the north, which is inhabited by almost 100 dogs rescued from a meat truck.
The lone two workers at aptly named Little Adoption Shop struggle every day to cover medical, food, and housing bills for all the dogs. Several are in need of eye surgery to save their eyesight. We, Ella, Amy, and Eduarda from year 12 at BSB, have made it our CAS project to help this small foundation in any way we can.
Every Monday afternoon, we go to the shelter to volunteer, clean, and train the dogs, to lighten the employee’s workload for a couple of hours. It’s unbelievable the amount of work he has on his hands on a daily basis
But there’s no question as to what the dogs really need: love. The joy that lights their eyes up every time we approach them may be the most heartwarming thing we’ve ever experienced. They crown around you just for the chance for a brief pet, or to deliver an unappreciated lick.
They touched our hearts. Even after our first day there, we knew that we wanted to do more. Mopping up pee felt so insignificant. We wanted to start a fundraising website, we made a mini-documentary to promote the shelter, which we presented in assemblies throughout BSB and made the whole student body engage with our project. An event at this year’s Christmas Faire, also organized by us, is estimated to raise thousands of RMB for the adoption shop.
One particular case that we are trying to focus our funding is for a dog named Jing-Jing. We want to help him get him his eye surgery before his condition deteriorates any further. A family actually considered adopting him because he was so sweet, but dropped the case after they fond out about the surgery fees. Hopefully we’ll find him a home some day.
At first, we’ll admit that we only volunteered out of location convenience, for CAS hours. But as we spent time with the dogs, we realized how they need and give so much love and affection, and we really fell in love with them. Now, every time one goes home, we feel so sad because we get so used to their presence there. We think that the Little Adoption Shop is a great way to help the community, because there are so many dogs suffering in China, which receive so little publicity and empathy. Caring for them and getting involved was an importance enriches not only their lives but also ours.
Update from: Year 12 students Eduarda Borba, Amy Wei, and Ella Malibiran
BSB students continued to look for opportunities to support the local community and showcase their talents.
South Side, No. 9 An Hua Street
