Olin, NE—Nov. 7, 2006
When Nebraska resident Marilyn Dreaster adopted three puppies from China, she didn’t know she was also getting a baby.
“I was excited to get Mei, Ling and Ping, who were abandoned after the One Dog policy went into effect,” Dreaster, 40, explained. “And then Dog Baby China had an available baby girl, so I thought, why not bring them all back?”
Dreaster adopted all parties the same day and paperwork was handled in a week.
“I love them all—they’re just like sisters,” she said.
Since the One Dog policy in China, hundreds of thousands of dogs and puppies are left on the streets, often with or near baby girls, also abandoned due to the One Child policy. Jun Li, director of Dog Baby China, said that pairing the two helps China and foreign countries. “We are helping save lives, and, doing what you Americans call, ‘Kill two birds with one stone.’”
The rising success rate of Dog Baby China is forcing many Chinese adoption agencies to consider sending a puppy with every baby adopted out of the country.
“It makes sense because white people love dogs and they love babies,” said Li Zhen Lo, director of Many Hearts Chinese adoption agency in Beijing. “It could be a goodwill gift. Both made in China! But the benefit is that they would be live gifts.”
But some adoption agencies in the U.S. are upset. Lynne Jenkins Ross of New Lives Adoption in Philadelphia believes sending dogs with baby girls will give the wrong impression. “Chinese people eat dogs. I don’t want Americans thinking Chinese people eat their babies, too,” she said.
But for mothers like Dreaster, the dog-baby combo sealed the deal. “It’s like getting a ready-made family. All I have to do is cut off their tags and tumble dry low,” she joked. “But seriously, who doesn’t want to save the lives of dogs and babies? It’s a no-brainer.”
The puppies even helps baby Zhen vocalize. “Mei and Ling bark and then Zhen imitates them and barks back,” she explained. “It’s like they’re helping raise each other. They really have each other’s back.”
For more information on the dog-baby adoption process, visit dog-baby-china.net.
5 Comments
November 9, 2006 at 12:52 pm
WTF?????? oh hell no. this story is a mess! Can we make any more direct link between animals and children and the ignorance of some of those that adopt internationally? *sigh*. Where is the original link to this story? thanks!
November 9, 2006 at 3:35 pm
This story was written for the Ice Calf and should by no means be considered as “real,” though for many, it’s not that far off.
November 11, 2006 at 3:50 am
I seriously hope you are not a mother (or father) because you have parent/child issues beyond repair. It would be interesting to know where you get your statistics about being “not that far off” for many.
MANY adoptive parents that I’ve come in contact with, say that adoption is the most important experience of their lives. Shame on you for assuming otherwise about “many” adoptive parents, and then mocking the adoption community because of your own personal issues.
I’ve seen (and enjoyed) comedic satyre, and this is not an example of it. You’re just a person with unresolved anger. Spend some time getting help with your anger issues and those around you will thank you.
November 14, 2006 at 2:13 pm
As a future adoptive parent of a Chinese baby this has to be the most offensive, rediculous thing I have ever read. I find it in your best interest to remove this article from your blog.
November 14, 2006 at 4:03 pm
Oh Hell yea!!
People who abuse animals abuse children. face the facts, newborns are found abandoned in EVERY country in the world.
The most disturbing fact is that China, India (and other countries that don’t see the female as an assest to the family) abandoned girls because they are considered a liability.
If a puppy comes with an abandoned newborn/infant, all the better. As Americans, we are truly becoming knowagable and sensitive to the animals as well as the infant.