Controlling Guangzhou's stray cat population a labour of love

Li Yanling's phone is a lifeline for many of Guangzhou's stray cats. When she's not in the classroom, the 48-year-old kindergarten teacher is usually mobilising volunteers to rescue vulnerable strays in danger or plotting the next TNR project.

TNR means 'trap-neuter-return', recognised worldwide as an effective and humane method of controlling the stray-cat population in urban neighbourhoods.

Li, who lives with eight cats, a husband and their son, is better known by her online name, Wen Mao Ji Xing, which translates roughly as 'instant happiness whenever coming across cats'. She's a devoted pet lover who also maintains Guangzhou's largest online discussion board for cats, gzcat.org, which has garnered more than 36,000 registered members since it began in 2002. The discussion board also has other subsidiary online platforms, including micro-blogs and social-networking websites, to enhance its campaign and influence.

How did you go from being a simple cat keeper to a rights advocate?

I got my first cat in 2002 when rats were invading homes from gas pipelines installed on the exterior of the building. There was no turning back after our home was blessed by our first cat, Ding Ding. We kept two more cats later, but one fell from our building. I wasn't sure what to do, so I began looking for solutions online, and I found gzcat.org.

The website opens up a world of scientific approaches to keeping cats, and I was also informed about all sorts of human cruelty towards these vulnerable animals. I came across countless stories out there of eateries featuring feline and canine cuisines, stray kittens' tails being chopped off, kids pouring glue on cats, and so on. There was only so much I could take, so I decided it was time someone did something about stopping the senseless abuse.