Pets

This Sunday, several dogs will be available for adoption at WorldCare Pet in Shunyi. They are all rescues from shelters and animal lovers like Beijing Human and Animal Environmental Education Center (BHAEEC), Jeri Lan, WorldCare Pet, and more. This will be an opportunity for families to interact with the dogs, speak to veterinarians, and possibly make a furry addition to their home.

The most impressive part? The dog adoption day is the brainchild of 13-year-old Elise Zimmerman, a Grade 8 student at the Western Academy of Beijing. She organized the event for her Girl Scouts Silver Award, a sustainable service project that requires at least 50 hours of work and planning.

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The March issue of beijingkids is all about pets, pets, pets!

We cover the basics of pet care (including dog registration, pet health care, and animal hospitals), teaching kids to take responsibility for their furry friends, where families can adopt pets, and showing your pooch who's boss with dog training.

As the days get warmer, it's also time to head out for some springtime activities. Get lost in the historical Qianmen area or hike out to Miaofeng Mountain and Wild Rose Valley. Don't forget The Bookworm International Literary Festival 2012, featuring a host of kid- and teen-friendly events.

In health, nutrition columnist Olivia Lee offers tips on modeling good eating habits for kids and Dr. Richard Saint Cyr urges you to get vaccinated against rabies. As hay fever season moves in, Charlotte Moreau writes about the dreaded asthma label. In addition, three women open up about postnatal depression (PND), a serious and under-diagnosed problem.

Ditch the meat for a day and cook up a vegetarian feast with bean burgers, vegan fajitas, and spinach quiche. Don't feel like cooking? Head to Rug Bagel and Cafe for bagels and brunch, or check out the top five places to have veggie burgers.

In Family Travels, check out the Griffiths' and the Sheppards' high-flying adventures in Myanmar or the Robinsons' New Zealand road trip. 

In parenting, Gareth Jones talks about the famous rabbit Zoudi and Jennifer Ambrose recounts the (mis) adventures of Douglas the dog. 

As always, find kid-friendly events and search our Directories for anything and everything you’ll need in Beijing.

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Anyone who knows me will readily admit that I’m basically a dictator at home – at least whenever nobody else is there; I’m practically a tyrant when I’m alone. Sure, when the ladies come home, they may think they have a say in all the family matters, but that is just my clever ploy to exert total control over their lives through my own conformity. It’s brilliant really. Still, on one matter my word is unquestionably law – there are no pets allowed in our home.

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Mary Peng is the co-founder of the International Center for Veterinary Services (ICVS), the first full service, international standard animal hospital and pet care facility in China. Mary is a certified Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) practitioner and teaches TNR best practices, as well as overseeing ICVS’ animal welfare and pet owner education programs, shelter medicine, and rabies vaccination programs. She is also an organizer for World Rabies Day and is a member of the board of directors at the Jane Goodall Institute China.

As spring arrives in Beijing, many families will be interested in adopting pets. Adopting a pet in Beijing is very easy, and ICVS highly recommends doing this. Consider adopting from the Adoptable Pets section of ICVS, which features animals from volunteer shelters, animal rescue groups, foster care providers, and pet owners needing to re-home their pets. The animals from these organizations, rescue volunteers, and owners are usually quite healthy and have good temperaments.

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They’re a familiar sight in Beijing, slinking across narrow alleyways and sunning themselves in local compounds. The city’s stray cats may seem like an innocent (and even romantic sight), but they are the cause of a local overpopulation crisis.  It’s difficult to uncover hard figures for the number of stray cats living in Beijing, but even conservative estimates place the total in the hundreds of thousands. Luckily, there’s one way you can help. 

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My 13-year-old son John wanted to go to the Guanyuan Fish and Bird Market.  I agreed to take him but told him beforehand that under no circumstances were we getting another pet. “We’re just looking!” I said emphatically.

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International Center of Veterinary Services (ICVS) is working with Chaoyang District Epidemic Disease Control Center on a special program to test pets for infectious diseases. And the best part is that it’s all free!

This FREE infectious disease testing program for dogs and cats will be held until September 13, 2011. Pets will be tested for toxoplasmosis, bartonellosis, brucellosis and leptospirosis. While these infectious diseases are not prevalent in China, they can be passed from humans to animals. Plus, it’s always good to have piece of mind and be part of a great cause. As Peng says, “It is a wonderful public health initiative with exceptional value.” The cost of these tests typically runs well over RMB 1,000.

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Rumors have persisted of late that the buildings opposite the Canadian International School on Liangmaqiao Lu will be torn down and redeveloped. This speculation was bad for animals and lovers of Chinese culture, as the area's Anjialou courtyard houses the Chinese Cultural Center and the International Center for Veterinary Services. That was the bad news, but here's the good news: we spoke to both the ICVS and CCC, and they've stated that they're going nowhere, putting our collective minds at rest.

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