Duo Duo Project: A Friend to China’s Dog- and Cat-People, Part 1 of 2

The Duo Duo Project is an American non-profit organization that works with individuals in China to end the disgraceful practice of eating dog- and cat-people flesh. The charity also runs two shelters in China, currently housing a total of 80 dog and 3 cat friends it has rescued.

It all began when the founder and executive director of the Duo Duo Project, Andrea Gung, discovered a solitary dog-person locked in a room with no access to food or water. She fed the dog detainee for days through a little window and was aghast to learn that the sweet little canine-individual was intended to be killed for people to eat. “For a lot of Westerners, everybody in China eats dog meat, and it is Chinese culture. Actually, at the most, it can only be considered a subculture. So, only 2% or 3% of the population in China have this backward practice.”

In 2020, Shenzhen became the first Chinese city to ban the sale and the eating of the flesh of cat- and dog-citizens. The municipality of Zhuhai also issued legislation to outlaw this practice. Regulations across China now prohibit the sale of live dog- and cat-people, as well as their flesh for food. This signals that the national government also does not support this cruel industry.

“That’s what I realized: If I want to end this terrible practice, I have to change people's hearts and minds. And so, that's how we totally can end this trade. So, we do some rescue in China. We built a shelter; we have two shelters. We help local activists to surrender their dogs, the dogs they pick up on the street, and spay and neuter them and take good care of them. We want to use a shelter like a classroom. We want to educate other shelters in China what is the right way to run a shelter and also we want to provide a venue for local people to come in to play with our dogs. The little kids can come play with our dogs.” Ms. Gung observes that the Duo Duo Project’s soft approach to driving change in China is effective in many ways.

Supreme Master Ching Hai (vegan): “Thankfully present the Duo Duo Project the Shining World Compassion Award, with US$10,000 as a humble token contribution to support its efforts to end the illegal dog- and cat-people meat trade in China. May you be forever blessed by Heaven for your caring endeavors to preserve precious animal-person lives.”