Cat Island kitties to get a new home in Baoshan

Homeless Cat Island, a sanctuary for homeless felines in the Pudong New Area, will relocate to Baoshan District, with the second phase set to open in April 2025.

The second phase of Cat Island will take on a new posture, bleeding stray cat management, and scientific popularization, with the goal of creating a practice ground for harmonious cohabitation between humans and pets.

The current Cat Island will close on January 2 and will no longer welcome visitors or accept stray cats.

The 2 hectare "island" was built in late 2022. It was the city's first homeless cat management and animal education center.

People would visit the shelter to learn about scientific feeding, illness control and prevention, TNR, adopting homeless dogs, and charitable activities.

It houses around 500 homeless cats.

According to the island operator, the shelter was nearing capacity.

Efforts are on to find a home for these stray cats. The second phase will accommodate some of them, the operator said.

Donations are pouring in to cover the feed costs and keep the organization running.

A charity event aimed at protecting stray cats in urban populations was recently organized on the island. Blue Buffalo, a brand owned by American food giant General Mills, donated 1.7 tons of cat food to Cat Island and the stray cat community in Shanghai.

Pet lovers created 20 cat houses during the event. These little shelters will make stray cats on Cat Island more comfortable and keep them warm.

Volunteers and guests learned about scientific feeding and stray cat protection.

"Cat Island is Shanghai's first urban stray cat management facility," said Zha Zhenliang, head of the city's homeless cat management program.

"Many of the cats on the island are injured strays, unable to survive in their own urban communities, and have been brought here by kind-hearted people, but the present capacity is not enough to accommodate so many of them."