Chinese Grandma Spends All Her Life Savings Taking Care of Stray Dogs and Cats

Grandma Bai, a 64-year-old animal lover from Chongqing, China, has spent the last 15 years taking care of stray dogs and cats,
and has exhausted all her life savings in the process.

American humorists Josh Billings once said “A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself”, and we’ve featured a few heartbreaking stories that prove this to be right. Remember Capitan, the German Shepherd who refused to leave his owner’s grave six years after he died, or Ciccio, the faithful dog who attends the daily Mass at the church where his master used to go? I’ve written a lot of impressive stories about dogs’ loyalty and love even beyond the grave, so it’s always nice to see some humans showing them some kindness in return. Case in point, Grandma Bai, a native of Leshan, China, who has spent all her savings and the last 15 years of her life taking care of over 100 stray dogs and 30 cats. Her love for these abandoned creatures and the sacrifices she has had to make have melted the hearts of millions, since the story broke out in China.

Grandma Bai used to live in the urban area of Chongqing, but as the number of animals she took in off the streets of China’s largest city grew, she realized she had to relocate to a nearby village, where the animals wouldn’t bother people so much. So, against the wishes of her family, she took all her adopted pets and moved to the country. Here, she built a home for them and continued gathering new strays from the surrounding area. Now the number of animals in her care approaches 150 (over 100 dogs and about 30 cats), and despite financial difficulties she’s still bringing in new members. According to the kind woman, the animals’ food alone costs 200 yuan ($32), and she has spent both her life savings and the money the Government paid her for demolishing her old home.

There haven’t been any updates to this story yet, but hopefully more animal lovers will come to her aid and support her efforts. Although Grandma Bai’s animal family doesn’t come close to the 1,500 dogs and 200 cats adopted by another Chinese animal lover, Ha Wenjin, her willingness to sacrifice material gains to provide shelter to helpless animals is to be applauded.