Wang Yan is a 29-year-old former millionaire in China who has gone completely broke dedicating his life to saving stray dogs.
Yan previously had a net worth of several million yuan, but has given it all away to start an animal rescue center for stray dogs looking to find a loving home, according to Shanghaiist.
Yan got his inspiration to start his animal rescue center when his beloved dog went missing some time in 2012.
“I went looking everywhere, but all to no avail,” he told China News. “Finally someone let me go into the slaughterhouse to try my luck there.”
Although he was unable to find his dog, seeing the animals inspired him to use his fortune to buy the whole slaughterhouse and turn it into an animal shelter.
“Right now, we only have 215 dogs,” he told China News. “The most we’ve had at one time is 1,000, many of them have been adopted.”
Yan has since gone into debt in order to keep his dog shelter alive and is worried about its future.
“I do not accept monetary donations. I only hope that kindhearted people will be able to donate a few supplies to help build a home from these 200 dogs.”
Stray dogs are typically a problem in smaller cities in China, according to Shanghaiist. The province of Shandong issued a pet ban earlier this year threatening to kill all dogs, even if they were licensed.
