Lucky Cats postponed a grand party for their volunteers planned for December 18 due to problems with their chosen venue.

"The party was to celebrate our success in saving and helping 1,000 cats get adopted," said Zeng Li, a founding volunteer and representative of the organization Lucky Cats.

"It was to be an opportunity for our volunteers to get to know each other as we do most of our work on the Internet," he added.

Lucky Cats started with a website for helping cats in 2001, it has since developed into an organization of more than 300 volunteers in Beijing.

Zeng Li is one of the two full-time volunteers working at the Lucky Cats office, which is located in a residential area of Huilongguan, north of the city.

"The office is also a care centre mainly for cats recovering from sterilization operations or injuries," Zeng said. "Usually they stay here no more than two weeks."

After the short recovery period, cats are sent to volunteers' homes to adjust to life indoors. During this time, Lucky Cats looks for families to adopt them.

"We will eventually find homes for all of the cats saved by our volunteers," boasted Zeng.

At present, there are around 200 cats up for adoption every month. Every week, 20 or 30 cats are adopted, with another 30 or so cats in the waiting line.

According to a news release on their website, to date, Lucky Cats has successfully found new homes for 279 cats, and have had 1,019 cats adopted in the Beijing area.

Cats waiting for adoption have their names, details and picture posted on the website.

Every potential adopter needs to fill in an application form with detailed information including contact information, living conditions, work situation and experience with cats.

Volunteers then contact applicants by telephone or email to get a feel for their sincerity.

"Our care doesn't come to an end the moment our cats are handed over to families. We keep an eye on them until we know they are being properly cared for," cautioned Zeng.

Lucky Cats usually contacts families every month to see how the cats are getting along in their new homes.

"We always get very satisfactory results," beamed Zeng.

Ready to adopt a cat? Find out more at: www.luckycats.net

(China Daily 01/05/2006 page18)