Yesterday afternoon, at a distressed cat and dog shelter in Tongzhou, the people being forced to move were carrying dog food. The dog food was donated by netizens from the Jingtan website. This photo was taken by our reporter, Yang Jie.
According to reports (by reporter Zhen Zhen Liu), over 300 stray cats and dogs are being raised alone by 58-year-old Tian Jinping, whose good deeds have caught the attention of many kind-hearted people. Yesterday, netizens from the Jingtan website delivered one ton of dog food to the stray dogs, alleviating the hunger of the small animals and the pressing concerns of Tian Jinping.
Tian Jinping's stray cat and dog shelter is located in Daying Village, Tongzhou. Yesterday, in front of a courtyard house, netizens were busy unloading dog food from a truck. In no time, one ton of dog food was piled up like a small mountain, "enough for them to eat for more than a month." Tian Jinping couldn't stop smiling.
Netizen "Ao Jier" is the donor of the dog food. A month ago, "Ao Jier" saw on the Jingtan website the story of Aunt Tian rescuing stray cats and dogs, and decided to launch a "donate food" campaign, which received a positive response from many netizens. "I myself also deal in dog food, 'opening the granary to release food' is a good deed, I must do it." "Ao Jier" heard that Aunt Tian's son had a serious illness, but she didn't give up taking care of the small animals, so he did his best to help Aunt Tian reduce her economic burden.
"More than 200 dogs, they need to eat 50 kilograms of dog food every day, costing 10,000 yuan a month just for food," said Tian Jinping. Previously, she fed them two meals a day, but last year, the large family of stray dogs increased by nearly 100 new members. Tian Jinping found herself struggling financially, so to ensure each member had enough to eat, she reduced the feeding to once a day.
At the scene yesterday, besides dog food, netizens also brought "snacks" - sausages - for the dogs. Netizen "51 Thankful" took out a sausage, and the dogs running around in the yard rushed to her like pigeons in a square, surrounding her in a circle and beginning to snatch the delicacies from her hands.
Volunteer Ms. Ma was changing the medicine for a dog she had adopted. "It has ear mites, its ears are swollen," said Ms. Ma. Almost all the dogs in the rescue station have been sick, and canine distemper is a common disease.
The little Pekingese "Baby" often enjoys the privilege of playing outside the cage. Tian Jinping said that it runs slowly because the aftereffects of canine distemper have made its legs weak. When crawling outside the cage with a red and swollen eye, it attracted the barking of other dogs. "Baby" dared not approach and quietly turned around to crawl into a corner, only then did the big dogs stop.
Accepting cats and dogs: From "toys" to "family"
Emotionally, "toys" guard homes and bring joy to their owners
She first started dealing with dogs when she brought home five puppies from her sister-in-law's place. At that time, dogs were just "toys" to her after her divorce.
But after an incident, she regarded the puppies as "family."
One night, Tian Jinping and her son were already asleep when the five dogs suddenly started barking incessantly. She got up and walked to the door, hearing hurried footsteps going down the stairs. Upon opening the door, she saw that the lock had been pried open.
Rescue: Renting land in Tongzhou to open a cat and dog shelter
The first dog she saved was "Xiaoxiao," which was abandoned at a hospital after a car accident. "Its tail and leg were broken, bloodied and mangled. I couldn't bear to leave it, so I brought it back," said Tian Jinping. Since then, rescuing stray dogs became unstoppable.
Whenever she encountered stray cats and dogs in the neighborhood, she would bring them home.
In 1998, having already taken in dozens of cats and dogs, Tian Jinping rented out her city apartment. Without a place to live, she entrusted her son to her ex-husband and moved with her "children" to a single-door-single-household courtyard in Chaoyang District. At that time, the cost of rescuing dogs came from her income from operating a flower shop.
As the number of stray cats and dogs she picked up increased, in 2000 Tian Jinping gave up her business and moved to Tongzhou, renting 1.7 mu of land for 4,500 yuan a year, building her own cat and dog houses. "Hundreds of thousands of yuan in savings have all been invested here," said Tian Jinping. The biggest expense was treating these cats and dogs for illnesses, "even a regular wound ointment costs dozens of yuan."
Difficulties: Son seriously ill, no money for surgery
In the hardest times, she was penniless, unable to afford medical treatment for the dogs. She rummaged through the drawers in her room, finding only coins. Tian Jinping feels that those difficulties are in the past, and she doesn't want to talk about them much.
Tian Jinping's son often says that the attention his mother gives to the cats and dogs far exceeds what she gives him.
Two years ago, her son was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, which startled Tian Jinping. Originally, the rent income used for rescuing dogs was planned to be saved for her son's heart transplant surgery, "waiting for a match, if there's a match, what will we do without money?" said Tian Jinping, feeling guilty towards her son.
When news of her son's illness reached the netizens who followed her, everyone began to offer support, "many people adopt, and many people donate money and goods." Said Tian Jinping, the situation at the rescue station is becoming increasingly optimistic.
As they were leaving, the netizens delivering the dog food proposed taking a group photo. Tian Jinping patted the dust off her head and combed her hair with her hand, "they always say I don't care about my image." In the photo, Tian Jinping's pants were stained with dog urine, but her face was full of smiles. (Editor: SN021)