Hello Street Cat

Hello Street Cat (哈啰街猫) is a program developed by Guangxi Hachong Network Technology Co., Ltd. (广西哈宠网络科技有限公司) which launched in April 13th, 2023. The app is "committed to improving the harmonious coexistence between people and stray cats through the power of technology".^[1] Its goal is to monitor stray cats in a Trap, Neuter, Return (TNR) program and encourage people to adopt, not shop.^[2]

The Hello Street Cat App logo from version 1.0.1 (April 13th, 2023 - present)

The official Hello Street Cat social media accounts also release monthly updates on their TNR program and other announcements related to the Street Cat app.

Official links to the app: App Store

Information

How Hello Street Cat works is by monitoring every cat that enters the cat house - it scans the cat's back, front, and sides, and then creates a file based on the cat. After the cat is monitored for a while and its behavior is recorded properly, the cat will be either neutered or adopted.

There are currently 400,000 stray cats in Shanghai, and the population is only increasing daily. The reproduction of these cats can be astounding, as in only 7 years, 420,000 kittens can be produced. The "Hello Street Cat" Cat feeders are in 13 cities in China. As of January 23, 2024, 5,600 communities in Shanghai have a cat feeder. According to their monthly report of February 2024, Hello Street Cat has launched 21,000 cat houses in 14 cities across China. As of July 31, 2024, the organization has partnered with more than 540 pet hospitals and neutered 87,728 cats. They cooperate with these pet hospitals in order to get discounts on TNR operations.

Controversy

Some people think feeding stray cats is a bad thing to do, as cats can breed faster without having to scavenge for food and cause the overpopulation of cats to only increase. Others think that introducing these cat houses will make stray cats come over more often and stay there.

After about half a year with the introduction of the Cat Feeders, most residents calmed down about the potential problems, seeing as most cats were becoming sterilized and the population started to become controlled in some communities.