It’s always nice to find a good thing. Or something you think is good. And it’s incredibly easy to miss the problems and see a good thing as far purer than the reality. However, nuance is important. And recently I found something that opened a whole can of worms.

This post is likely to be poorly organised. This is a string of thoughts, and probably more aimed at me processing and organising my thoughts in order to settle on a secure and informed opinion, rather than conveying a decision to present a specific conclusion for any potential audience to agree or disagree with me on.

A few weeks ago, a friend showed me a website. https://meow.camera/

On the website was many, many livestreams across China of feeding stations for stray cats. They would intermittently vend food for hungry cats, and overall it was cute to observe. The website also linked the feeds to an app. A yellow button saying “Open in Purrrr” (And in the settings, the ability to change that link to “Open in JieMao”.

I was intrigued. I installed the app. It became obvious that Purrrr was an international release of JieMao (街猫), which was accessed by Chinese netizens only (or, at least, people with a valid Chinese phone number), whereas Purrrr could be accessed by logging in by email, Google, or Apple (on iOS devices).

In the app, I had the ability to pay to feed cats. It turned out those intermittent vends of food were issued by viewers. And meow.camera made it much easier to locate unfed cats. This, in my opinion, was a good thing. I do not wish for cats to starve. I’m fond of cats. I had one of my own for more than 15 years, and I grew up in a house with many cats who grew old with us.

There is a lot of information in the app. Namely, my focus at least, was on the fact that the cameras used AI to analyse and identify the cats. Making it much easier to identify un-neutered cats, trap them, and neuter them. It also stated that after neutering, it was possible that the cat could be adopted instead of released. Bonus. Happy cat gets a happy home. Everybody wins.

The application also showed TNR funds. The ability to donate to funds to neuter cats. I did in fact donate to one myself, and I look forward to seeing her get neutered, and potentially find a forever home.

I had posted about this all on TikTok. I was in love with the app. I’d never seen anything like this before. The response was overwhelmingly positive, with one video getting >1500 likes, many shares and saves etc.

I was pleased, the word was getting out. And the Purrrr App actually compensated me for my TikTok posts considerably, meaning I was able to feed more cats, even if I could not donate much money.

And I’m sure by now, anyone reading (so, nobody) is wondering why the title here is about discourse.

Well. I made the mistake of bringing this up on XiaoHongShu (小红书).

And, the response was the polar opposite. Most people aggressively against the app in the comments. One person straight-up just trawled my profile in order to insult me personally. Another, not content that I hadn’t responded to a PM (I was asleep), actually dug a little further in order to find my email address and email me directly instead. They were not aggressive. They provided some links. But still, I was overwhelmed before I could even really collate the content of all these messages. Then, naturally, arguments started in the comments section between people who like, and do not like, 街猫.

It has taken some time, talking with commenters, and with friends with more experience in Chinese culture, attitudes, ecology, to try and understand this as a whole. And I still don’t think I’m there. And I’m not sure, as a White British person, who is highly unlikely to ever be financially afford to visit China, I can ever fully understand any of these things. However, all I can do is my best.

There is a difference between ignoring a cultural norm, and challenging out-dated attitudes, and I hope that any of this comes across as the latter, rather than the former.

At first, it was just a couple of comments. And shortly before I went to bed. I asked if people could tell me about the problem. Most were, clearly passionate, but willing to communicate.

Then I woke up to an utter shitstorm two mornings running. Such is the perils of posting on a Chinese platform when you tend to be asleep when they’re awake, I suppose.

“My own house has neutered 14 cats, achieving 100% sterilisation, and this year a(nother) stray cat has been included in the sterilisation plan.” – Volunteer for a Cat House.

Before I touch on the controversial issues, I’d like to acknowledge this context from an owner, that it does seem that there were lax processes in the past that have been tightened. This does give some promise that the company is at least committed to improvement, though to what extent is uncertain.

Food price does not align with
donations.

This was brought up a few times as evidence that the company is operating purely for profit. And given that the majority of funding seems to come from the purchase of feed, all I can say is – Of course the cost of feed is lower! How are they expected to pay for the maintenance, development, space rental, costs of server streaming and infrastructure, and Christ only knows what else is involved? Also, even in well-meaning organisations, the people working full time to keep things running smoothly need a wage. How else is this supposed to be covered? No reasonable human with half a brain is out there thinking every cent is going to the cost of the food itself, but also the ability to provide that food.

As for the food quality, this is the data provided, compared to Whiskas Dry 1+ Years Chicken, a highly popular brand here in the UK:

In conclusion, whilst the finer details are less clear in UK cat foods. What can be discerned seems to suggest that Purrrr/JieMao feeders is either roughly on-par with standard UK cat food, or even better. So naturally, this is of little concern to me. Besides, a cat that isn’t starving because of low-quality food, is better than a cat that is starving due to a lack of food.

Is Whiskas the best, most recommended food? Absolutely fucking not. Of course it isn’t. It’s supermarket shelf chum to shut your cat up without having to break the bank on fucking Royal Canin. I’ve never heard of a cat dying of eating Whiskas, though, obviously, I’d recommend better for a cat you’ve made an undying promise to care and provide for. Would I feed it to stray cats? Absolutely.

In short, this is overreach and overdemanding nutritional perfection where it is neither feasible nor even realistic, and while the cost is likely inflated for some amount of profit, it’s not quite the inflation it seems when you take into account that it is likely contributing to a lot more than just the cost of the kibble dropping out of the machine.

TNR Crowdfunding does not align with actual cost.

I was provided with details regarding the cost of discounted vouchers for stray cats that definitely undermined the amount being crowdfunded for each TNR fund.

I was originally willing to agree, that yes, these prices did not seem to align with the reduced cost of sterilisation for strays. However, during last night there was an argument in the comments section (qu’elle surprise), and it became apparent that the original sender of the data was cherry picking, and that the reality is that it’s not always that cheap. One article from CCTV cites discounted sterilisation as ~400 yuan. One commenter on XiaoHongShu also claimed they’ve seen then as high as 600 yuan, but did not cite a source and I have been unable to find one.

400 RMB = 55 USD (based on current XR of 1 USD = 7.23 RMB.

Is the price higher on Purrrr/JieMao? Almost consistently yes.

However, it seems that JieMao does not provide this service themselves, but rather arranges, promotes and collects the funds for other organisations that provide the TNR services.

Now, what I will criticise here is the lack of transparency, as it seems the data of the cost quoted to JieMao is not something they have disclosed. This does seem to be an ongoing problem. And something I would like to look into further. However I’m not sure I’m overly concerned with the discrepancy if it accomplishes more neutering.

Some comments claimed the TNR is a lie and never happens, however I have witnessed the fitting of TNR traps live (though I have slept through that eventual capture of the cat) and I’ve found this claim to be as of yet unsubstantiated with evidence.

Others were claiming that feeding the cats would make them harder to capture, however given how the TNR traps work by way of encapsulating the feeder, this is observably false.

Another claim was that feeding the cats would cause them to accumulate and risk high levels of breeding. I was unable to find any data to either support nor deny this claim, however given the noises that cats in heat make, I suspect they would be breeding regardless of the presence of the feeder. Another concern was the accumulation would increase the spread of disease, however The Paper states that “a fixed foraging spot can greatly reduce the health risks caused by rummaging through garbage and foraging for inferior food.” which directly contradicts this claim.

Some also say that they are not doing enough TNR promotion and accomplishment. My argument is that it doesn’t matter how many they achieve, to some, it’s never going to be enough. 1 is greater than 0. I prefer “not enough” to “none at all”.

Placing Feeders in areas on Conservation

The majority of people were citing the placement of feeders in Xixi Wetlands. The claim being that this will impact the areas biodiversity, killing birds and causing more cats to breed.

However, according to an article on ZhiHu, those feeders were applied for and placed by the area’s authorities in March 2023. JieMao does not actually place the feeders themselves, instead trusting (perhaps a little too easily) the volunteers that apply for the units to know the best placement in their environment.

So, it seems people are still complaining over a problem that has already been resolved when it comes to the placement in Xixi Wetlands. I’ve not seen any other actual evidence cited for the risk to birds outside of the references of Xixi Wetlands. This is old news and an old scandal that has been rectified, and to continue to attack someone for something that has been corrected and probably wasn’t even their decision in the first place, but the decision of the park itself, is ridiculous behaviour driven by bias.

Difference in attitudes towards stray cats in China and the UK

Strays in the UK are not hugely common. Where they exist they are usually apprehended, and where they can be adopted out, they are. They are viewed with a sympathy and look towards their wellbeing where possible. However, by reports from other netizens, China has a history of hostility to stray cats. And if the current overwhelming number of strays is anything to go by, that hostility has solved absolutely fuck all. Many replied with pictures of automatic euthanasia machines for cats, others commented with the name of a group dedicated to the capture, abuse and fatal torture of stray cats, including locating JieMao feeders in order to do it live on stream. Some just continued in circular logic that made it apparent that they were dancing around admitting that they would prefer them all dead, and some were less covert. This wasn’t the case for every comment, but this was the general gist of comments incoming. It seemed to be becoming rather clear that I was being deliberately dogpiled.

Additional

There were also claims that there was a scandal regarding the hunting down and harassment by users of the platform, to someone who adopted a cat that had become popular on streams, leading to them freezing to death in the winter. However, I have been completely unable to find evidence of this in order to give much comment. That said, no platform can be reasonably responsible for the behaviour of users. If this was also organised within the platform then there is a huge need for stricter moderation and monitoring of chat spaces, however without that information I cannot form a suitably informed opinion of an alleged event.

I was also emailed 5 links to read. After asking for assistance from a friend who would better know the reputation of these media sources, it transpired that of the 5, 3 were from 163, which they referred to as “like the Daily Mail” which is notorious for making up bullshit for the angry idiots to sop up like a bunch of deranged energy vampires, and were removed from the equation. One was not actually a factual and sourced article, but an opinion piece with no substance to the claims, and the final one, from The Paper, was not encouraging the ending of the initiative, but rather an open communication in order to find a solution that would suit everyone. Though I find this somewhat overly optimistic, given that the opposition seems inflexible to the potential benefits of being able to deploy any kind of TNR.

Conclusions

So, should you use Purrrr/JieMao?

I don’t think there is currently a clear yes or no answer. I think people will shout their opinions at you, but ultimately it is up to you whether you think the pros outweigh the cons or vice versa.

Will I continue to use it? For now, I plan to continue, with a more observant eye to see the efficacy of TNR programs. However, I will also be watching what information is released to us and trying to do what I can to fact-check that information. I believe that this is a good, and well-intentioned program, but has the potential to be detrimental if poorly managed. A lot of the problems seem to be outside of the reach of JieMao themselves, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing more they can do.

Do I want to hear your opinion on my final decision? Absolutely the fuck not. Honestly, the amount of bullshit I’ve seen in the last 48 hours has been quite enough. I’ve been called everything from a psychopath to a hypocrite just for mentioning the apps existence, by people who knew full damned well that information was not so easily accessible to me in the first place. Fuck off / 滚开，贱人。