Can suffering dogs find human love?

Activists are doing their best, but the sheer number of homeless - often injured - animals is too much for the patchy network of shelters, charities and volunteers. James Skinner and Huang Chenkuang report from Wuxi, Jiangsu province.

Le Le wags her tail when people approach her. At first glance she appears like any normal dog. She is energetic and has inquisitive eyes. But something is wrong - Le Le has no hind legs and can only drag herself forward using her two front paws.

Other than this disability, the dog is healthy, but not because of the care and attention of a doting owner. Le Le is homeless. She is living in a large animal shelter just outside Wuxi, Jiangsu province.

The shelter is run by Ji Ting, who opened the facility in 2014, motivated only by a love of animals and concern over the plight of the many homeless dogs in Wuxi. He currently cares for 150 dogs full-time, with the help of two staff members and local volunteers.

More than 40 stray dogs wait for homes at a mall in Nanjing in February during a pet adoption activity held by volunteers. Qin Huai / For China Daily

 

Le Le, it turns out, was abandoned by her owners and lost her legs after being hit by a car. After being nursed back to health by Ji, she is getting proper care and attention.

Her story is depressingly typical of the dogs at the shelter. Many have some kind of disability, including missing legs and eyes, and some have been at the receiving end of the most appalling cruelty. One dog lost his leg after being thrown out a window.

The sheer number of dogs and the low interest in adoption means that the shelter is where most of them will end their days.

The animal shelter in Wuxi receives no government funding and relies entirely on the generosity of donors and the work of volunteers to keep going.

While Ji aims to help any dog that is homeless, he can usually only take animals that are in serious condition.

"Because of limited space here, we can only take dogs in very poor health. There are three pet hospitals that give us a discount on veterinary treatment," Ji said.

Weather factor

As the weather gets warmer, more stray dogs begin to appear on streets around the country. Warm temperatures mean better conditions for survival.

Throughout China there is little provision for these unwanted animals. Although the law on wildlife protection - which is in effect since this year - provides some limited protection for domestic animals, concrete and detailed measures are still lacking. Most services for homeless dogs are provided by charities.

But providing shelter for unwanted dogs is only a stopgap solution. Once a dog has been rescued, the difficult process of finding a new home begins.

Ji tries to rehome the dogs by advertising new arrivals on his WeChat and Sina Weibo accounts.

But it is difficult to find new homes for the dogs. Many people looking for pets are put off by the physical problems of the animals in the shelter.

When someone does want to adopt one, Ji collects a deposit from the new owner and after a period of time conducts checks to ensure the animal is being cared for appropriately. The deposit is then returned.

Ji has good reason for this.

"We brought in an inspection system after discovering that some people were adopting dogs simply to eat them," Ji said.

Others, without the resources of Ji's shelter are also trying to alleviate the problem.

One group is Wuxi's animal fostering network. The group has no animal shelter of its own. Instead, it runs a fostering network with around 1,000 members, including a team of 10 people who regularly rescue dogs - and occasionally cats - from the streets and find foster care for the muntil a permanent home can be found.

The group was set up about six years ago and aims to have its own shelter in the future, but for now members can only try to find permanent homes for the animals.

Kanako Uehara, a Japanese woman who has lived in China for 14 years, first came across the group when she was thinking about buying a cat. A friend had suggested adopting one instead, and after searching for information she came to know several members of the group.

Over time Uehara became involved with the group and is now an active member with two adopted dogs of her own. She stresses that raising money is not the group's biggest problem.

"Money is not so important. Adoption is the most important thing," she said. "Some of our members are currently fostering over 20 animals."

Considering China's rising living standards and breakneck economic development, it is perhaps surprising that this problem is still so prevalent. Stray dogs roaming the streets bring to mind cities like Bangkok or Mumbai - not Wuxi, where the animal shelter is based, along with a network to help find foster homes.

There are roughly 500 million dogs globally, and three-fourths of them are homeless, according to World Animal Protection, an international nonprofit animal welfare organization.

It's difficult to get accurate statistics on the situation in China. Past media reports put the number at 40 million strays nationwide in 2015. In Beijing and Tianjin alone there are an estimated 1.2 million stray dogs and cats.

But one thing is certain: The rampant growth in the number of animals in the streets is causing problems. A stray dog in downtown Ankang city, Shaanxi province, attacked 11 people in September, including a pregnant woman, before being shot.

Police in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, caught more than 3,600 stray dogs in the first quarter of 2017 after receiving an avalanche of complaints from local rabies-fearing residents.

An industry sprouts

A whole industry of dog-related services has grown up to serve the country's dog owners including grooming parlors, veterinary clinics, kennels and even dog spas. Indeed, the pet industry as a whole is big business: It was valued at more than $2 billion in 2014, according to Pet Fair Asia.

But despite this apparent willingness to spend large sums of money on dogs, many animals end up being abandoned.

The reasons for this are numerous, but Wang Ruoyu of the fostering network believes that a lack of basic knowledge about how to care for dogs is one of the biggest problems.

"Often dogs are walked without a leash, causing many to escape and become homeless. Also, there is little knowledge about sterilization due to lack of education, often resulting in unwanted pregnancies in female dogs. Many of these dogs get abandoned if an owner feels unable to cope with a litter of puppies," she said.

Uehara expressed her view that a family will sometimes abandon a dog if a baby is born, in the belief that the dog may be dangerous to the child.

But the way dogs are sold in China may also play a role.

Buying a dog involves no more checks than buying a bowl of noodles. Anybody can pick one up at one of the country's many animal markets. They are even available on Taobao. The requirements in some of the bigger cities to get a dog license are largely ignored. The ease with which dogs can be bought may contribute to the apparent ease with which so many are later discarded.

Abroad, China does not have a good reputation for animal welfare. The country is regularly criticized for its lack of animal welfare legislation and practices such as the consumption of dog meat.

Yet things are clearly changing. There is now a lively generation of young activists who campaign for animal welfare through groups such as the Chinese Animal Protection Network, and target events like the Yulin Dog Meat Festival.

And while there is no national action plan to improve the welfare of homeless dogs, some local governments are taking action themselves. Nanjing, Jiangsu province, for example, maintains a government-funded animal shelter and has taken advice from animal rights charity PETA on how to improve conditions there.

The quality and availability of veterinary care has also greatly improved. For example, licensing requirements for vets have become stricter.

Owners have also become more knowledgeable about how to keep their pets healthy.

"Many owners now know how many vaccines are needed in the first years. Some owners now even know the brand and function of the vaccine," said Chen Nu, a veterinarian based in Wuxi.

Chen is optimistic about the future for China's dogs.

"Society is realizing that it's not just about protecting animals but also about protecting ourselves. Many are pushing for animal welfare legislation, and I think we will have it soon," he said.

While the number of homeless dogs is still overwhelming for the patchy network of dedicated charities and volunteers tackling the problem, the situation is clearly improving.

Back at the animal shelter in Wuxi, dogs such as Le Le are unlikely to find a permanent home again, but they are safe and cared for. Perhaps in the future, stories like hers will be the exception, as changing attitudes and policies in China begin to protect man's best friend.

Contact the writers at james_a@chinadaily.com.cn