Give me a hug and please never abandon me! Photo Download A little girl high five with the “puppy” and promises to take good care of animals Photo Download Group photo of working staff at the end of the activity Photo Download

After Snow White, an originally cute puppy, grew obese from overfeeding—so obese in fact that it couldn’t even stand up—it was abandoned by its master in front of a pet store. After that it became very timid and scared of strangers and hid in the cage all day long, doing nothing but gaze absently into the street with its big soulful eyes.

After hearing Snow White’s sad story, six fourth-year University of Macau (UM) students from the Department of Sociology felt they should do something to prevent other pets from suffering the same fate, and so with the support of their teacher Dr Samuel Choi, they founded the Life Respect Group and organised a campaign to call on people to respect life and not abandon pets.

The campaign consists of two parts. The first part is called “Hug Me”, during which students-posed puppies stand on the various streets and inside the campuses of local universities to invite passers-by to give them a hug. “Hug Me” aims to let people feel the happiness and warmth brought by animals and also to encourage people to adopt abandoned pets. Many passers-by said that they always wanted to adopt an animal but didn’t know how, and they were very happy that this activity filled this information gap. The second part is a university forum on animal protection, which is due to be held on 9 April. The theme of the forum is “Change Your Mind, Change Their Life”. Several local animal protection organisations will send representatives to attend the forum. All are welcome.


Should you have any inquiries about the press release, please feel free to contact Ms. Veronica Tang at（853）8397 4323 or prs.media@um.edu.mo or visit UM webpage www.umac.mo.

11/03/2013