Duo Duo Project 2025 Impact Report

Christy Griffin
3 days ago
5 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

Ending the Dog and Cat Meat Trade is a Winnable Campaign

For 13 years, Duo Duo Project has been on the ground in China, 365 days a year, working to end the dog and cat meat trade. Through humane education and community outreach, we reduce demand. Through our growing spay and neuter initiative, we reduce supply. By attacking this cruel trade on both fronts, we are addressing its root causes and proving that this is a campaign we can win in our lifetime.

At a time when so much cruelty feels beyond our control, this is one horror we can stop.

Humane Education and Community Outreach

Changing Hearts and Minds to End Demand

Education is one of the most powerful tools for lasting change. In dog-eating cities, Duo Duo Project has now reached over 80,000 young people with humane education and interactive experiences funded by supporters like you.

***A compassionate young girl learns to be a responsible dog guardian at an outreach event.***

These children are learning to see dogs and cats as family, not food, and they are growing into a generation that rejects the dog and cat meat trade altogether. The impact is real. When the Yulin Dog Meat “Festival” began, an estimated 10,000 dogs were killed each year. In recent years, that number has dropped to approximately 3,000.

Even one life lost is too many, but this decline proves that hearts and minds are changing. And it’s why this work must continue.

Spay and Neuter Initiative

Reducing Supply, Preventing Suffering

There are no large-scale dog or cat meat farms in China. Most animals slaughtered are stolen pets or strays. By addressing stray overpopulation through sustainable spay and neuter programs, we tackle one of the trade’s most critical drivers.

***Young Chinese veterinarians learn the most up-to-date surgical techniques at a spay/neuter event.***

Every sterilized animal represents countless lives saved, not only from homelessness and starvation, but from meat trade traffickers who prey on vulnerable stray animals.

So far, Duo Duo Project has hosted ten spay/neuter events. Many more are being planned for 2026.

Our goals include:

Training more local veterinarians in the most modern, least invasive techniques
Expanding the number and frequency of spay/neuter events
Providing year-round low-cost or no-cost spay/neuter services
Ensuring communities have long-term tools to manage stray populations

This initiative is about prevention, ending suffering before it begins.

China’s First-of-Its-Kind Spay and Neuter Training Center

Thanks to your generosity, Phase One of our Spay/Neuter Training Center is complete, including major renovations, plumbing, and electrical work. We are now in Phase Two, focused on equipment, medical supplies, and finishing the interior and exterior build-out.

*Our vision of the completed Spay and Neuter Training Center.*

Even before completion, the Center is already saving lives. Our new operating room is hosting spay/neuter events, and we’ve begun hands-on training sessions for young Chinese veterinarians, teaching advanced techniques not widely available in China that reduce pain, recovery time, and complications.

The energy has been extraordinary. These veterinarians are eager to bring compassionate animal care back to their communities, multiplying the Center’s impact far beyond its walls.

We are deeply grateful to our Taiwanese veterinary partners, Dr. Lin and Dr. Chen, whose three decades of experience are helping shape the future of animal welfare in China.

The sooner Phase Two is complete, the sooner we can train more veterinarians, host larger events, and prevent countless animals from entering the meat trade.

Trap–Neuter–Release and Activist Training

*Volunteers trap feral cats at the Buddhist temple outside of Beijing.*

Beyond surgeries, the Training Center has become a hub for community empowerment. This year, our team led trainings in basic animal care, grooming, and humane trap-neuter-release methods, while also providing a gathering space for young activists to plan outreach efforts.

Momentum is growing! A local Buddhist temple invited our team to help manage stray animals on its grounds. Following a spay/neuter event, the temple became a vaccination and trap-neuter-release partner, setting an example we hope other temples will follow.

The hope we see in these young activists gives us profound optimism for the future.

International Pet Appreciation Celebration

2025 marked the third year for our International Pet Appreciation Celebration, which counters the cruelty of the Yulin Dog Meat “Festival” with a global outpouring of love for dogs and cats, uniting supporters worldwide.

This year, events were held across China, Taiwan, Japan, the UK, Mexico, and the United States. Thank you to everyone who participated! Together, we are reshaping the narrative and showing the world that dogs and cats are not food; they are family.

In Memoriam: GeGe and HeiHei

Ge Ge, rescued from a slaughterhouse 12 years ago, became the heart of our Yulin Compassion Center. She touched the lives of more than 10,000 children, gently teaching them that dogs are friendly, wonderful animals who shouldn’t be feared or subjected to cruelty. Her legacy lives on in every child whose heart she helped open.

Hei Hei, rescued from the Yulin meat trade, found love and family thanks to a young supporter who made her rehoming possible. Though her life was cut short by illness, she spent her final chapter surrounded by care, comfort, and joy. We extend our deepest condolences to her family.

Signs of Change Across China

For the second year in a row, Yulin’s local government organized several alternative cultural events during the time of the horrific Dog Meat “Festival.” This year’s events included a concert, art exhibits, and interactive community activities.

*Dogs rescued from a transportation truck recuperate at a triage area outside of Guiyang City.*

Elsewhere, courageous activists intercepted trucks carrying hundreds of dogs and cats bound for slaughter. In Guiyang City, a truck packed with more than 700 dogs and cats was successfully intercepted thanks to quick-thinking, compassionate young animal activists. In Jiangsu Province, police worked with agricultural and rural authorities as well as animal activists to successfully intercept a vehicle illegally transporting 900 cats.

Thanks to your donations, Duo Duo Project was able to help cover some of the veterinary expenses from these two rescues when local activists requested our assistance.

Viral images from a Hong Kong fire, showing people risking their lives to save pets, sparked an overwhelming positive response on Chinese social media. One widely shared comment summed it up as “Saving the most vulnerable lives is proof of a civilized society.”

Public perception is shifting, especially among young people, and compassion is becoming the norm.

Special Thanks to Our Ambassadors

*Model, entrepreneur, and advocate, Nikki Gal for Duo Duo Project*

We are so honored and privileged to have the support of our Duo Duo Project Ambassadors and the Duo Duo Pack! Your valuable contributions help elevate and accelerate our mission to end the dog and cat meat trade.

To quote model, entrepreneur, and advocate, Nikki Gal, “This mission is not just about educating—it's about inspiring action.”

Thank you all for standing with us! Your kindness means the world to our team and to all of the dogs and cats saved by your compassion and dedication.

Looking Ahead

Thanks to your generous support for our year-end campaign, Phase Two of our Training Center will be completed in Spring 2026. Planning for our 2026 spay/neuter events is already underway with our veterinary partners. And our popular community outreach events in Yulin will be expanded this year.

With you by our side, the future is bright. Thank you for believing in this work and for making lasting change possible.

Together, we will end the dog and cat meat trade.