(public domain photo www.pixabay.com)
Ven. Zhi Xian, a Chinese Buddhist monk in Shanghai, has made his mark on the city, rescuing almost 8,000 stray dogs since the early 1990s. The head monk of Bao’en Temple in northeast Shanghai began saving dogs and cats in 1993, eight years after he first became a monk.
Traditionally, Chinese people in cities did not keep pets. Those were found in rural areas where they were used to assist humans - cats to capture mice and other small prey; dogs for protection.
As China prospered materially, city dwellers began to include pets as part of their families. However, as in the west, if an animal became ill, was too much work, or simply no longer wanted, the animals are abandoned. According to state media, there were some 50 million stray animals in China in 2019, with numbers roughly doubling each year.
Ven. Zhi said he has noted a sharp increase in the number of stray and injured animals in recent years, the result, he says, of well-meaning but poorly prepared pet owners abandoning unwanted animals. “I have to rescue them because if I don’t, they will die for sure,” said the 51-year-old monk.
“This is not caused by people who dislike dogs, or by the government, but by so-called dog lovers who don’t have proper animal-caring knowledge,” said Ven. Zhi. (WION)
Animals saved by Ven. Zhi go to his temple, to a shelter he runs in Shanghai, or to new homes around the world. Aided by a team of volunteers, Ven. Zhi has filled his temple—which still acts as a place of worship—with many dogs who are sick and in need of care, along with some 200 cats and a small collection of chickens, geese, and peacocks.
(read the full story: www.buddhanet.com)