Today is the Lunar New Year, the beginning of a new year on the lunisolar calendar, and the most important holiday in Chinese culture.
In honor of the Lunar New Year falling on the 10th day of the month (10 is considered to be a significant and lucky number in Chinese culture), here is a list of 10 Reasons to Be Hopeful:
* 2023 marked 10 years of Duo Duo Project's critical service. We’re still going strong with dedicated teams in China 365 days a year, helping to educate, advocate, provide animal care, and change hearts and minds from dog and cat eaters to dog and cat lovers and advocates.
* South Korea's parliament passed a bill in January to ban the eating and selling of dog meat - a historic victory for animal welfare and a significant motivation for activists working in all dog-eating countries.The dog meat trade has also been banned in Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, India, Thailand, and Singapore, as well as Shenzhen and Zhuhai in mainland China.
* This year, Duo Duo Project will establish our first animal clinic and nationwide spay and neuter program in China - a long-time dream coming true, thanks to your support!
* In recent years, one of China's largest food delivery services removed dog meat-serving restaurants from its service and platform.
* In December, approx. 1,000 cats were saved in a rescue mission in Hangzhou, China, with 100 young activists rushing to help in days-long triage efforts.
* In the past three years, two Chinese-produced movies featuring dogs as loving main characters have successfully brought in large audiences, showing a shift in the country's perception of dogs.
* Our programming is growing and paving the way for Chinese youth.The most popular program is our art contests for kids, which are held in cities affected by the dog and cat meat trade. To make them particularly effective, these enlightening events feature dog and cat 'models' we've rescued from the cruel meat trade.
* We are developing the Duo Duo Project "Compassion Cities" program - a 3-point collaboration with partner cities in China who wish to work with us to build systems of animal care, community engagement and education, and animal welfare enforcement.
* In June, we will celebrate our second annual International Pet Appreciation Day with a large-scale rally in San Francisco and a month-long series of volunteer-drivenrallies around the world. This global outpouring of love for dogs and cats intentionally precedes and is in protest of the horrific Yuiin dog meat "festival."
* We have a strong and growing community of animal lovers like you who are standing up for animals and so generously supporting our shared vision of ending the dog and cat meat trade once and for all!
I hope you share in the joy, optimism, and pride of these marks of progress because none of them are possible without you.
THANK YOU!
Happy Lunar New Year and Happy Almost-Valentine's Day!
With love, gratitude, and best wishes from all of us at
Duo Duo Project,
www.Duoduoproject.Org