What a fabulous event just recently in Chengdu after Suki and our Cat and Dog Welfare team pulled out all the stops and launched our brand new event — “Bikers love animals”.

Launched in April with a target of 68 groups, our amazing team have beaten their own target and now have 70 groups currently cycling across 25 cities of China — AND a new target of 88 groups showing their love for animals in different ways across the country!

Riding bikes throughout various communities each biker is carrying a variety of messages AND seeing a ripple effect of more people joining and signing pledges to help animals. 

Each rider bikes for 88km, stops at eight focal areas, gives out leaflets and gets 888 signatures and pledges at each place — with the main theme “caring for animals starts with me”! The pledges cover such themes as:

• We promise not to eat dogs and cats — they are our friends, not food!
• Be a responsible pet owner — and don’t abandon your cats and dogs.
• Don’t buy any bear bile products.
• Don’t hurt animals and if you see someone harming them — stop them!
• Please try to help stray animals and join or help local animal-welfare groups.
• Send out animal-protection information far and wide through the Internet, public forums, in schools, universities, and through any medium, which will help the animals of China.

Seeing the bikers off on the start of their ride in Chengdu on Sunday May 15th, I asked them to promote what everyone can do to help animals in their everyday lives. To plead with all those they meet not to buy “live trinkets”, which are a cruel fad of turtles and fish in plastic bags being sold as key-rings! Don’t buy ivory, don’t use TCM with wild-animal products containing rhino horn, tiger bone and bear bile! Don’t wear fur! Go veggie for one or two days a week — or for life — you will be healthier if you do and so will the environment and your wallet!

At the end of this event we expect to reach at least 120,000 people — but of course many, many more through the media and Twitter, QQ, etc. A ripple effect, a solid programme driven by passion to help the environment in China, and the animals that share our world.

Thank you especially to Suki, Cherry, Jing Jing, Irene, Carrot, Gina and Jessica and all in our Cat and Dog Welfare team for carrying out this amazing nationwide event. Thank you too to so many staff in Chengdu and Hong Kong who provided such an incredible back-up for this campaign — the organisation has been phenomenal and you should all be very proud.

And thank you to everyone who has joined this fantastic campaign for being such an inspiration and for creating a better life for the animals. Please bike carefully and know that what you are doing is truly making a difference for the animals of China. Caring for animals starts from you — and they are so, so lucky to have you on their side.