A Place of Our Own PT2

Part 2

Beijing, China

Fondly known as “Grandpa”

He is a quiet man, more so now since his stroke. He has been taking in strays most of his adult life. He never let a dog go hungry. That is how he came to care for over 120 dogs.

He never let a human go hungry, either.

That is how we found out about Grandpa. A young man, named Wangli, was a new immigrant to the city, looking for work. He stumbled onto Grandpa path, a human stray of sorts. Hungry and friendless, Grandpa helped him get on his feet and it all started with a hot meal and a safe place to sleep.

Wangli never forgot the kindness of Grandpa. One morning, Wangli discovered that Grandpa had passed out on the ground the night before taking care of the dogs. He rushed him to the hospital. it was clear Grandpa wouldn’t be able to continue to care for these dogs anymore.

Mei answered the call.

Mei, our TNR 100 volunteer learned about Grandpa and she and her friends, together with Wangli, took care of the dogs when Grandpa was in the hospital. The dogs barked like crazy because they were strangers and a neighbor complained to the police. They showed up and gave a 30 day moving notice to remove the dogs.

When Grandpa learned about it, he cried every day in the hospital worried about the future of his dogs. Some people did offer to take one or two, but their places were even worse off than Grandpa’s, so we decided to take them all in.  

Now we were faced with caring for an additional 120 dogs. 

There was room at our new shelter from which we leased space from a boarding kennel. It became clear that we should step up and help Grandpa move his dogs to a safe place. So, Mei and Wangli arranged for the move by hiring a semi truck and some loading men for the massive move to our shelter outside Beijing.

Many of the dogs weren’t spayed, neutered, immunized, and many had health problems. We had to make a serious commitment to get these dogs to the point that they could enjoy life as happy, healthy dogs.

It broke Grandpa’s heart to let them go.

He pleaded to keep some but, in the end, Mei and Wangli convinced him that it was the best for him to let them go. He must focus on his own health and rehabilitation. Wangli promised to take him to visit his dogs at the new shelter as soon as he felt better. 

Eventually, Grandpa made a visit bringing treats and food and spending time with all the dogs, even including the ones that weren’t his from before. Grandpa is getting stronger and out of his wheelchair, but he is still experiencing limited mobility. He gave his approval on the care of his dogs. They are safe and happy in our new shelter.

That is not the end of the story.

We have also established a house in the area that we are using to transition dogs from shelter life to home life and adoption in the United States. We’ll let you know about this exciting new turn of events soon.

If you can help us with our new plans for direct care of Grandpa’s dogs, please donate. We need your help to feed them and outfit their kennels this winter with beds, blankets, and heaters. Please join us in the fight against the animal crisis in China.