A pet adoption meeting of Shati Animal Rescue Center in March Photo credit： Red
Donated goods Photo: Wu Qinglang
By Wu Qinglang
In front of the Western-style bar, a blonde lady is telling everyone which way to go in the donation area. The singer on stage strummed his guitar and started singing Rock & Roll.
Shares Bar was packed at 8 pm, when an animal rescuing fundraiser was held there.
The event, co-organized by Shati Animal Rescue Center and Rotary Club of Hangzhou kicked off on June 19,with a short speech by Sarah Reeh and Sarah Crouch.
Sarah Reeh, the founder of Shati International Animal Rescue, sat on a table next to the stage talking to a friend, and every few minutes someone would walk up to her and say hello. Sarah Crouch, the president of Rotary Club Hangzhou, was pacing around the bar, busy with pizza and drinks that were made for customers.
It's the second time Hangzhoufeel interviewed Reeh since 2020.
Reeh started out by creating a WeChat group where expats can contact those who have animals for adoption. During that time, she also joined a number of Chinese local adoption group chats. The time she really got into the rescuing was in 2020, when she took in nine puppies that were abandoned,some of whom were as young as one month old, and found for them their new homes.
As things go on, Reeh would take in very sick dogs in different WeChat group chats and buy dogs to be killed by dog dealers. In the past three months, she has bought nearly 50 dogs from the meat market.
Three years on, including the 80 dogs at home, Reeh has rescued about over 300 dogs. In December 2021, she moved to what now resembles the center of a small farm, where she can house more animals. When asked about the biggest difficulty in doing this work over the years, she made a money gesture.
"At the beginning with a smaller amount, my bill wasn't that high, it was just like a few shots," saidReeh, "But I still remember the first big rescue that cost about 5,000 yuan. I was like I would never get this money together."
In 2023, 5,000 yuan is no longer an unattainable figure for Reeh, but the Shati Animal Rescue Center now spends 50,000 - 60,000 yuan a month, mostly on medical care, as Reeh always takes in animals that are very sick or that no one would want to adopt.
"It's always very difficult to explain to people that it actually costs money." Reeh said somewhat reluctantly, "and I feel bad about posting fundraising messages every morning and every night. It is always just money, money, money, money!" She slapped her hand on the table as she said.
But in these years, she has made a lot of connections and got huge support from friends and local businesses. On the night, Haijun Qiu, the owner of Shares Bar, provided the place free of charge when she found out it was a charity event for animal rescue; the Rotary Club, which is dedicated to volunteer activities and social service, co-organized the event.
The bar was filled with Chinese and expats of all professions, mingling and making new friends. Jundong Li, a lawyer from Rongzhe Law Office said with a smile, "I'm super happy tonight. I think they should bring some dogs so we can pet them."
Hazel Self and Laura Duggan, the organizers of the entire fundraising event, became involved through animal adoption. Having adopted a formerly abused cat from the Shati Animal Rescue center, Duggan thought of many ways to bring the two cats she had adopted in the UK to China. The two have contacted over 50 companies, one by one, to find sponsorship for the event.
"In the past years, people have become more vocal, like fighting for animal rights," said Reeh.Just like three years ago, she has recently been struggling to find a new place again. The current center is too small for her with 80 dogs and 12 cats. And she is planning the layout of her new place, which needs to have quarantine areas for dogs with infectious diseases, observation areas for new arrivals, and so on.
The night alone saw a donation of 5,534 yuan and a table full of household items and toys for the animals, but there will always be more help and like-minded pals needed in the future.