Desperate for Help | NL Animal Rescue

Yan’s Rescue Story, Desperate for Help:

“At the end of May 2018, I rescued six stray dogs in Beijing’s XiSanQi area. One was fortunate enough to be adopted shortly after. Left with five dogs, I contacted a prominent animal rescue base in the city in an effort to more expansive treks of land to house my animals. The base was operated by a trustworthy young man. It was a much more affordable housing option than the foster care programs in animal hospitals. This relieved a huge portion of my personal financial burden. With such help, my heart felt so much lighter.

A group of friends and I went out to dinner to celebrate the success of this new development. One received a message in the middle of the meal, alerting him of a small courtyard of dogs filled compactly with stray dogs. Apparently animal activism simply doesn’t yield to the concept of “relaxation” for before I knew it, we had all left dinner and were on our way to the countryside where this alleged courtyard was located. The Chinese countryside is a hellish place for dog-lovers. One was paralyzed by a deep puddle of hardened mud. Another could barely see its own two paws in front of it as they stumbled around like a headless chicken. Another stood shivering in silence. At first, we had only come to this destination to donate several sacks of dog food to the organizer of this courtyard but my conscious wouldn’t let me. I pulled my friend aside and told him that we needed to take them all to my regular clinic for immediate medical attention. My friend looked at me warily, for he was well aware of how expensive my spontaneous idea was going to be no matter how strategically executed. I insisted that I was definitely going to save every single one of these dogs. If we just turned our heads to all of these animals, we knew the majority of them would be dead within days. There was no place for them to hide the murderous summer heat. They all simply laid on the ground against one another, supinely panting. Finally, my friend agreed to go along with my crazy plan.

The first group we transported was a group of the five weakest looking ones. Everybody working at the clinic that day came forth instantaneously to help us out with our numerous dogs. Each dog received basic vital checkups. One had canine distemper accompanied by a 103 degrees fever. Another had an even more blistering fever of 106 degrees. Some other one had severe anemia and needed a blood transfusion immediately. Two others were slowly succumbing to malnutrition. All weren’t sterilized and needed to remain in the hospital for close monitoring. These dogs would cost even more than any other batch of canines I’d brought the clinic simply because of the intensity of their diseases and ailments.

Nonetheless, my friend and I continued to transfer more dogs over to the clinic until the amount we’d admitted reached twenty one. It’s quite scary how expensive all of this is. I’m not quite sure where I’ll be able to come up with that sort of money but all I do know is that I have absolutely no regrets. I love animals with every fiber of my being and will try my absolute best to save as many as I can. Any help is appreciated.”