The masks, keychains and mugs printed with kittens were unexpectedly loved by many people. The first batch of 4,000 masks produced by the "Meowen Haihai" team was sold out in just one day.

Recently, Xiamen University students sold cat peripheral products and raised money to sterilize stray cats on campus to attract attention. The masks, keychains and mugs printed with kittens were unexpectedly loved by many people. The first batch of 4,000 masks produced by the "Meowen Haihai" team was sold out in just one day. Netizens jokingly call these stray cats on campus a "working group".

Liang Jielin is a student of Hamen University School of Journalism and Communication. She graduated in 2021 and is one of the core members of Miao Sheng Haihai. After graduation, she still acted as an agent for the operation of Miaosheng Haihai and continued to carry a small bag of cat food with her.

When she was young, she was actually afraid of cats and dogs. "When she saw animals, she had to take a detour, afraid of being scratched by them." She said, "But cats are a magical animal. The first time she touched them, and after feeding them with cat food for the first time, she was no longer afraid." It was an accidental opportunity to start rescue stray cats. A young three-cat cat was besieged by 7 stray dogs downstairs in her dormitory. She sent the kitten covered in bruises to the hospital, but the high medical expenses made her hesitate.

Fortunately, just because of her circle of friends, she raised nearly 30,000 yuan in two days, and the kitten with multiple wounds on her body survived tenaciously. This incident touched Liang Jielin very much. "When you save a life and everyone is willing to help you, you will feel very moved," she said.

"Erlang Shen" was injured before and after the operation. Photo provided by the interviewee

[1] "Erlang Shen"

On the evening of February 7, 2021, Liang Jielin was washing her hair in the dormitory and heard continuous barking of dogs downstairs. The classmate told her that there were seven stray dogs siegeing a kitten downstairs. When she arrived downstairs, the dog had been driven away by the security guard, and the three-flowered female cat was lying on the ground in blood.

If the kitten is not treated, it is very likely that the kitten will not survive. Liang Jielin sent the kitten to pet hospital that night and contacted Miao Sheng Haihai's classmates.

When she arrived at the hospital, the doctor told her that the kitten still had a chance to rescue her, but it had multiple organs damaged, and the largest wound penetrated the entire belly and needed surgery. It takes a certain amount of time to recover and recuperate after the operation, and the whole cost is at least 10,000 yuan.

"I definitely can't afford this fee." Liang Jielin hesitated a little, "I said coldly, letting it be euthanized is actually a more cost-effective choice." She asked in the group, do you still need to save it? The students said, save first, let’s find a way to deal with the cost.

On the same day, Liang Jielin edited a text on her Moments, telling the story of the kitten's injury. "The cost of one night has reached 6,000 yuan, and more fees may be incurred in the future. I would like to ask everyone to help this cat, thank you very much." It was already six or seven o'clock the next morning after the kitten had undergone surgery. Liang Jielin stayed in the hospital for a night and returned to school the next morning. "I fell asleep in the car."

When she returned to school, she found that many classmates were forwarding this fundraising information, not only students from the same college, but also teachers and students from other colleges and even teachers and students from other schools were forwarding it. A teacher asked her if she had enough money, and if it wasn't enough, she could try to make up for it. By the next night, more than 800 friends had transferred money to her, raising a total of more than 29,000 yuan.

They named this kitten with a ball of black hair between their eyes "Erlang Shen". "The cat's vitality is much stronger than we imagined." After the operation, "Erlang Shen" survived. The money was not used up in the end, with about 7,000 yuan left, and Liang Jielin handed over the remaining money to Miao Sheng Haihai.

Later, "Erlang Shen" was adopted by a graduate student who graduated the same year and took him to Xi'an. The senior sister also adopted a small orange cat with ulcerated eyes and broken leg. It has a good personality and "likes to post to people." But "Erlang Shen" seems to have PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder) and is not close to people. On December 29 last year, it died of illness.

"Erlang Shen" is cured. Photo provided by the interviewee

[2] The chubby stray cat

For Liang Jielin, this incident was a turning point.Before this, she didn't have much awareness of helping her, but she just occasionally forwarded the fundraising link to rescue stray cats. She liked to feed stray cats and took photos of them. After that, she gradually became one of the core members of "Meowen Hai Hai". "When you save a life and everyone is willing to help you, you will feel very moved."

"Meowen Hai Hai" was originally an unformed organization. Unlike a club, they are just a group of people who like cats gather together, sometimes feeding cats and taking photos.

Turning point was in 2019, when cat plague appeared on campus, and many stray cats died of infection, and then some classmates started to send cats to the hospital for treatment. The prototype of the black and white kitten in Miaosheng Haihai’s avatar is a kitten that died in this cat plague. They named it "Ring Candy". It also has a brother named "Hulu", which was later adopted by a classmate.

Miaoshenghaihai gradually formed a system for the rescue of stray cats. The most core of these is TNR, namely arrest-sterilization-release. They will send stray cats to the hospital for spay and start the promotion of adoption. If no adopter is found, the cats that have been spayed and have been given earmarks will be released on the spot.

Liang Jielin said that if there is no control, stray cats on campus will continue to reproduce and grow, which is not conducive to the campus ecological environment. Continuous pregnancy and childbirth are also a consumption for cats.

Before, catching stray cats was mainly due to classmates wearing thick gloves. One day, a classmate in the group suggested that he could provide an electric cage. From then on, they just need to put canned cats in the cage and stand in the distance waiting for the cat to enter the cage and close the door. A teacher at the school vacated a warehouse in his staff dormitory and stored cat food, medicines, cages and other items for them. Kittens who are healing or waiting for adoption will also live here.

"These cats eat chubby after being sterilized and live longer. Generally, stray cats have only 3 to 5 years of survival. Now there are many adult cats over 3 years old in the school, all of whom live well." Liang Jielin said that sterilization does not have much impact on the survival ability of cats, "Their main threat is dogs and people." They have no way to manage stray dogs in the school, and they mainly rely on the security department.

Most of the cat food and medicines for stray cats are purchased by students at their own expense, but the cost of sterilization and treatment is not a small amount. Doctors from a pet hospital near the school agreed to provide 5 free sterilization places every month. "At least 5 cats are sent every month. Cats with good personalities and are easily adopted are preferred, and milk cats are preferred." According to incomplete statistics, they have sterilized 131 stray cats so far.

【3】Ugly Cat who accidentally went out of the circle

When Liang Jielin joined, there were only more than one hundred people in the group. "I am a Xinchuan major, maybe it's affected by this. I discussed with my teachers and classmates that we can create an official account to tell everyone what we are doing and publish adoption and fundraising information." The

official account was quickly registered and published an article. At first, this account did not have the permission to leave readers' messages, and the interaction was not much, and the reading volume was not high. Until November 2021, a classmate in the group said that he had an account that he could leave messages, and it was useless for a long time and could contribute.

On November 18 of the same year, they posted the first post "Meow live in the sea, we are back", and they have moved their positions since then.

On this official account, they hold a beauty pageant for stray cats on campus. Out of "bad fun", a "ugly" cat with a strange appearance was "infiltrated" among the nominated candidate cats. It unexpectedly received a lot of attention. Someone in the comment section wrote: "I made a call for Chou Chou, and Chou C debuted." "Chou Chou is not very outgoing and does not meet it often. Some students will be particularly happy to see it in school."

is a popular "Chou Chou". Photo provided by the interviewee

This beauty pageant also gave birth to the idea of ​​making cat peripheral products.

In March this year, a classmate proposed, "We can make something to sell." This idea quickly received everyone's support. They chose the "ugly" cartoon image and made a batch of masks. From design to contacting the manufacturer to listing on the shelves, it took only one or two days. This batch of masks was also loved by many people, and the first batch of products were sold out in one day.

Later, they successively made keychains, mugs, etc. with the image of campus cats printed on them. The main purchasing groups are the teachers and students who love cats in the group, as well as their friends.

Excluding costs, the income from selling surrounding areas cannot fully cover the expenditure of rescuing stray cats. Many times, they still need to mobilize campus fundraising.

cat perimeter made by Miaosheng Haihai. Photo provided by the interviewee

The influence of Meowen Haihai is constantly expanding, and pressure and burden are also coming.

Some classmates will contact Miao Sheng Haihai as soon as possible when they see stray cats. "After handing over the cats to us, they seem to have completed the task. They feel that they have done a good thing and are very happy." Liang Jielin said, "But for us, a cat is just a cat for no reason. Maybe it does not need help, and it is not suitable for adoption, and we do not have that great ability to rescue every cat."

Now, they will designate the person who found stray cats as the first person in charge of the cat. "You will do the work of sending cats to the hospital, finding a doctor to issue certificates, writing fundraising, and adoption promotional tweets. We can help with medical expenses, round-trip fares, etc.." Liang Jielin said, "Otherwise, cats will keep getting stuffed, and our manpower is really limited."

Jiupai News reporter Wang Jiaqing

[Revelation] Please contact the reporter WeChat: linghaojizhe

[Source: Jiupai News]

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