British teacher to the rescue of stray dogs
Print Edition
Though too old to walk, Rusty, a black Labrador, hobbles over and crouches down in front of George James.
With an ill-fitting white coat and dirty apron, it鈥檚 hard to believe that the scruffy Englishman surrounded by dogs was dressed in a suit teaching college students a few hours ago.
The former British emergency physician came to China two years ago. He teaches at a university in Hefei, Anhui Province. But he is better known as the city鈥檚 stray dog keeper, adopting more than 100 stray dogs in the shelter he established, George鈥檚 Shelter. In the shelter, Rusty has avoided the fate of starving on the street after his owner passed away. He now lives out his final days in comfort and safety.
鈥淪tray dogs, just like people, also feel scared, lonely and hungry. We have a responsibility to protect and love them,鈥 said James.
James named the first dog he adopted Rosemary. One freezing night two years ago, he found the 1-month-old white terrier puppy shivering on the street, begging for shelter.
As he continued to adopt more and more animals, the small apartment offered by the university was too small to support them. James now rents an old house in a suburban district of Hefei, providing the space he needed to set up George鈥檚 Shelter. Many of his students and other volunteers have joined him in taking care of dogs.
鈥淚 want to build a home for these unwanted babies where they can feel safe,鈥 he said.
George鈥檚 Shelter has rules: All dogs must receive disease checks; they must be regularly vaccinated; sick dogs and aggressive ones should be quarantined; donations of dog food and vaccines are more preferred than money.
鈥淢ore importantly, stray dogs must be sterilized. Otherwise, 100 will soon become 200, or even 500,鈥 James said.
He said many Western countries also have a stray dog problem. Some animal clinics sterilize stray dogs free of charge. The cost of animal sterilization surgery is still very high in China.
鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 have been able to stick to the work without the support of so many kind Chinese people,鈥 James said.
The owner of the house rents the place to him for free after learning James wanted to use the house to help stray dogs. Over the past week, an animal vaccine manufacturer in Shanghai donated vaccines worth 10,000 yuan (US$1,494).
Zhang Xiaojing, a retired doctor from Beijing, calls James a 鈥渕adman.鈥 He found James has very simple personal items in the house. In winter, he places all the heating equipment in the kennel and provides bedding and blankets for the dogs.
Raising the big family of dogs keeps James busy. He gets up at 5am and rushed to the shelter, which is 15km away from the university. After cleaning and feeding, he heads off to teach at 8am and returns to the shelter after class. A veterinary school in Hefei has been discussing the possibility of taking over the stray dog shelter after James leaves China.
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