"May all life be gently treated", with this motto, in order to promote voluntary service to contribute to public life, Youth Volunteers Association from Tianjin University (TJU) have launched a series of voluntary activities including visiting bases and assisting in co-construction. 

On April 14, 2018, volunteers from the Qiushi Honors College and the School of Mechanical Engineering went to a dog shelter called the “Yard of Eryi” to assist in caring for the animals. 

The Yard of Eryi is rescue shelter in the Xiqing district of Tianjin city. As one of the animal protection bases in Tianjin, the Yard of Eryi has been active on social media with developing a wide influence. In the fall of 2017, the young volunteers of the Qiushi YVA had organized student volunteers to help with activities to carry out long-term volunteering, including field trips, and building volunteer service bases.  

There are about four hundred rescue dogs currently in the yard. Some of them are injured, some of them are ill, while others are afraid of humans due to their mistreatment as strays. In this trip the volunteers brought dog food and disinfection supplies to the shelter. The disinfection supplies were useful to prevent infection, usually being added to the dogs’ food or water. 

In the shelter, the volunteers encountered one particular old dog with yellow hair. Its health was failing and it coughed all the time. The volunteers in the shelter said it came to the shelter one year ago. “After a long time as a street-dog, it came to our shelter in really bad condition. It was suffering from malnutrition and infected with parasites, but we helped it, cured it, and we will try our best to keep it alive” said a worker from the yard.  

There are many dogs in the shelter with similar stories. The shelter workers take care of the dogs everyday although they are not rich themselves and they treat these dogs as their own children. What they do is warming hearts in this windy city. 

“These dogs are miserable. It is this small yard that gives them hope to continue their life.” said Yi Fanwang, an organizer and Qiushi student who has long worried about homeless dogs. ”We hope that more people will pay attention to animal protection and dedicate some time to these small lives”. 

By: Peng Chenmiao, Qiushi Honors College

Editors: Qin Mian and Keith Harrington