Good mission: a monk from Shanghai takes care of 8,000 homeless animals

A Buddhist monk from Shanghai has devoted most of his life to caring for stray dogs. Since 1994, he has saved thousands of unfortunate animals. Zhi Xiang, 53, is the head monk of Shanghai's Baoen Temple. Pet care has become his daily occupation. The monk now has about 8,000 dogs under his care, as well as hundreds of cats, chickens and roosters. Find out how a devoted Buddhist became the patron of homeless animals from our material.

Zhi Xiang has been saving the lives of street animals since 1994. It became his life's work. The man learned to vaccinate stray dogs on his own and treat them, because the services of a veterinarian are very expensive. Only recently, the monk began accepting donations from animal rights activists and animal lovers to make ends meet.

The rescue mission began in 1994. Then the man was driving along a busy highway and saw a cat hit by a car. The animal was seriously injured and tried to move to the other side of the road. This bitter sight prompted the monk to start his good work.

At first, Zhi Xiang only saved cats. The Chinese picked up the corpses of dead animals, and the living ones, who required medical care, were taken to the veterinarian. Gradually, he began to travel around the area with only one goal — to save animals. After the monk moved to the Baoen Temple in 2006, it turned out that there were much more stray dogs in need of help than cats. And then the rescuer began to help them too.

Most of the dogs that are under the care of a Buddhist came to him from a shelter in Fengxiang, where they died of starvation. Zhi Xian takes them to the temple for a few days. He examines the animals and provides them with the necessary medical care, and then sends them to a shelter in Pudong, where most of his 8,000 pets are now located.

Several hundred dogs that are under the care of the monk will be sent to the United States and Europe, but for most he remains the only hope for salvation. Sometimes people turn to Zhi Xiang to take a pet from his shelter, but the Chinese does not trust animals to the first person they meet.

Until 2017, the Buddhist did not accept any monetary donations, only food for pets was brought to him. But when the number of stray dogs increased, he realized that he would not be able to provide for their maintenance himself.

In 2019, Zhi Xian rented a shelter with an area of 9,000 square meters in Dagan. Every month, he pays 1,570,000 yuan (about 17.8 million rubles) for renting a room. The shelter employs seven people. It takes a ton of food per day to feed dogs. About 5,000 dogs are kept here, 3 yuan (about 34 rubles) is spent daily on feeding each of them. The total amount turns out to be unaffordable.

There is a serious problem with stray dogs in China. In 2019, there were about 50 million street dogs in the country, and this number is doubling every year. Zhi Xian believes that this is not the fault of the government or the animals themselves. The so-called "lovers" of animals who feed dogs, but do not castrate them, are to blame. Also, pet owners are responsible for the problem, who simply throw them out on the street when they get bored.

The monk says that people should sterilize homeless animals, and not just feed them out of pity. The number of stray cats and dogs will increase rapidly if they are not castrated.

Zhi Xian has won the admiration of millions of fellow citizens and foreigners. The Chinese man says that there are also those who do not understand why he is engaged in such charity, and these people criticize him. Sometimes those who come to the temple condemn the monk for not praying enough. He also says that the Buddha considers all lives equal and calls on them to be saved.

Despite the difficulties that the Buddhist faces every day, he plans to take care of homeless animals at least until the age of 65, until he retires. Zhi Xian wants to find a person who can continue his good work, and transfer the pets into good hands.

Homeless animals are transformed, it is only necessary to surround them with love and care. Here are vivid examples of such reincarnations.