CHENGDU, China – The white short-haired mutt was found dragging his crushed hind legs through rubble-clogged streets after the massive earthquake devastated China's Sichuan province.
The shy terrier mix was lucky to live through the May 12 quake that killed nearly 70,000 people. He was even more fortunate to survive the squads of police and soldiers who were gunning down homeless canines for fear they would spread disease in the disaster's aftermath.
But his luckiest day was when he was picked up by Chen Yunlian.
Now he's among some 100 “quake dogs” rescued by the former businesswoman, who has created something extremely rare in China: a private animal shelter.
For 11 years, Chen, 60, has been rescuing strays off the streets. She now cares for about 900 dogs and 100 cats in her shelter built among rice paddies on the southern outskirts of Chengdu, the provincial capital.
“I think that dogs and humans have the same right to live,” she said as a brown brindle hound missing a front leg jumped up on her and snuggled his snout in her lap.
Chen's views about animal rights are radical in a country where dogs can just as easily be a pet or the main ingredient in a spicy hotpot. Although dog ownership has grown in popularity as the Chinese become wealthier, many people don't have the strong emotional attachment to the animals that is common in the West.
Chen is also on the vanguard of a new movement in China of citizens who start their own groups to deal with social problems that were once mostly handled – or ignored – by the Communist Party-led state.
The government and party – wary of anything that might challenge their monopoly on power – are still trying to figure out how much of a role they want people like Chen to play.
Chen calls her shelter “Ai Zhi Jia” or the “House of Love.” A tall metal fence surrounds the facility off a narrow tree-lined road about a 45-minute drive from downtown Chengdu. From the street, a cacophony of yelps and barks can be heard. The air is filled with the smell of dry dog food, fur and the faint scent of feces that's constantly being scooped up by a staff of eight.
“Chinese people prefer purebred dogs and the mixes probably won't be adopted,” said Chen, adding that she cares for every dog until it dies. “But mutts are the most intelligent and the most affectionate. They really appreciate you.”
One of her superstar mutts from the quake zone was a small, brown, short-haired terrier named “Qianjin,” or “Forward.” Rescuers said Forward and another dog – a sheltie named “Guai Guai” – belonged to an elderly woman who was partially buried in rubble at a Buddhist temple in the city of Pengzhou. The dogs stayed with their master while she was trapped for 196 hours.
“The rescuers told me the dogs were drinking rain water, then they would lick their owner's lips to help keep her from getting too dehydrated,” Chen said.
When the 7.9-magnitude quake struck, Chen said she wanted to race to the hard-hit cities – most an hour or two away from Chengdu – but she had to wait 10 days because of road closures and restrictions on traffic.
When she finally got in, she cruised the streets in her van looking for homeless animals.
In the city of Guangyuan, she found the white terrier mutt with the mangled legs. Like other dogs with crippled hind legs at her shelter, the dog now walks with the aid of a wheelchair-like device made of PVC pipes. It's a design a shelter worker copied from an American Web site.
