BY: SWIKAR OLI

Wang Yan was looking for his missing dog in 2012 when his friend suggested he search a dog slaughterhouse. He arrived at the slaughterhouse to the sight of dogs being horrifically treated. While Yan didn’t find his dog there, for a week, he hung around the butcher shop to witness the mistreatment and bloody killings. Yan, who was a successful steel manufacturer, in a move that would leave him broke, bought out the slaughterhouse and ended its killings.

Yan spent 3 million Yuan (USD 470,186) to turn the slaughterhouse into a rescue shelter and save all the dogs. Now, three years in, Yan has saved 2,000 dogs’ lives there, reports China News Service. At one point, the shelter housed over a thousand dogs at the same time.

Yan’s story comes at a contentious time for China and its record with dog slaughter. The recent Yulin Dog Meat Festival, which saw over 10,000 dogs slaughtered, was protested heavily from both Chinese citizens and Hollywood celebrities alike, raising questions over whether such festivals should exist because of tradition (or whether it is any worse than all the cows or pigs dying everyday).

Once a millionaire, Yan is now in debt from running the shelter. Yan is not accepting money, but for help, he will oblige anyone wanting to donate supplies or adopt any of the 200 dogs currently under his care.

Images Via Sina