A cat rests idly at Cat Island.
The new site of Shanghai’s Cat Island, a sanctuary for homeless felines, in Baoshan District, is set to open to the public in April, housing about 300 homeless cats.
The “island” in Laogang Town, the Pudong New Area, started relocating in February. Recently, over 70 cats have moved to the new site near Gucun Park in Baoshan and are adapting to the new environment.
From April 9, it will start trial operation, according to its operator.
The new site features walls with hand-drawn cat designs and has set up small wooden houses for cats to play and rest. It has also been carefully planned in terms of function and layout.
A hand-drawn cat wall at the new site
The “Nursing Home” shelters elderly and disabled cats, and the “Kitten Welfare Home” protects stray cats under six months old. It also includes a stray cat adoption registration center, the Cat Island Cafe and the Cat Memory Canteen which offers food and drinks to volunteers and visitors.
The new site also includes Shanghai’s first urban stray cat community governance science museum. After completion, it will take people to embark on a science-popularization journey with cats. The museum’s “guides” are abandoned purebred cats unfit for the wild, finding new “jobs” here.
Reservation is required once the new site opens and people can make reservation via “阿拉宠” WeChat mini program from 9am on April 8.
However, the site only opens to people at or above 12 years old due to safety concerns.
A sanctuary for homeless cats.
The Cat 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.
According to the island operator, the old shelter was nearing capacity.
“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.”
A hand-drawn cat wall at the new site
Address: 62 Sheng Residence, Gucun Town, Baoshan District 宝山区顾村镇盛宅中心宅62号