Couple living in 200 sq ft flat with 60 cats and dogs spend life savings caring for strays
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 15 January, 2015, 1:51pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 15 January, 2015, 7:43pm
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The couple from Chengdu, Sichuan province, have shared their 215 sq ft home with 60 stray dogs and cats for the past 10 years. Photo: wccdaily.com.cn
A couple living in a 215 sq ft flat with 60 cats and dogs rescued over the last decade are penniless after spending their life savings on caring for the animals and are now seeking new homes for them.
The couple, from Chengdu, Sichuan province, took in their first stray in 2005, after the 56-year-old man rescued a cat trapped on a roof, the West China City Daily reported. They began adopting more cats and dogs into their 215 sq ft home over the next 10 years.
The man is accompanied by some of the strays as he goes about his daily business selling mobile phone accessories. Photo: wccdaily.com.cn
The man said he and his wife spent 3,000 yuan (HK$3,800) a month on the animals. Much of the 300,000 yuan they had saved up from working in the jewellery trade in Shenzhen years ago has been spent on the pets. The couple moved back to Chengdu, their hometown, in 1998 to start a business selling mobile phone accessories.
The man said they could not afford visits to the vet, so his wife, who used to be a nurse, invested in a stethoscope, needles and medication to treat the pets herself when they fell ill.
The couple are now looking to rehome their pets after neighbours complained about the din that the animals often make at night. Photo: morning.sc.cn
He said their neighbours frequently complained about the animals making a din at night and so they were looking for caring, responsible people to take some of the pets off their hands.
The couple are not the only ones in China dedicated to caring for stray animals. In 2011, a man in Wuhan, Hubei province, made the news for having adopted more than 140 stray dogs since 2009.
