Grass-roots campaigner sings out loud of love for animals

Shay Xie Zheng, 31, founder of the grass-roots non-profit organisation Don't Eat Friends, campaigns for vegetarianism, animal rights and an end to the consumption of animal products. The group has held regular concerts since to 2006 for the cause and all the proceeds go to organisations or people involved in animal protection. His team is also working to save stray cats and dogs, and links companion animals and adopters. Last month he released his album A Song for Earthlings, with seven folk-rock songs dedicated to animal welfare.

How did you get into campaigning for vegetarianism and animal protection?

I dropped out of school at 15 in Anshan , Liaoning , and began to compose music and write lyrics for heavy rock songs in 1995. I moved to Beijing four years later and became a vegetarian in 2001 only to constrain my greed. In 2006, I had a vivid dream in which I visited a slaughterhouse where a dead pig was put in boiling water to get rid of its hair. Strangely it suddenly turned into my best friend. I couldn't help thinking how human beings are so cruel to eat our friends - animals. Human beings and animals are equal. I realised it's not enough to abandon eating meat myself - I had to do more to convince others.

I organised our first animal protection concert in Beijing in July 2006. I didn't expect so many strangers would come simply out of love for animals. The second concert took place in Shanghai about a month later. I borrowed money from supportive friends to set up Don't Eat Friends in December 2007 with four people working part-time in the very beginning. Now we hold concerts about once or twice a month in Beijing to get our message out. We also organise other regular activities such as rubbish collection and helping injured raptors in suburban mountain areas. Now we have two full-time team members, including myself, and five part-timers.

How do you support the team and look after dozens of cats and dogs?

We receive a few thousand yuan from friends and from selling some souvenirs including cat photos and badges on the internet. The money is spent on rent for two small farmhouses for about 2,000 yuan outside the northwest Sixth Ring Road at the foot of Phoenix Ridge, and to feed 31 cats and a couple of dogs.

Has your thinking about conservation changed since founding the group?