I did not know the problem of stray dogs in China is so serious until I visited a stray dog home in the suburb. It was a huge open space that is crudely divided into many open-air areas, overgrown with weeds, smelly, and accompanied by the noise of construction workers in the distance. Although the environment is relatively bad, it does not disturb the dogs chasing, playing, or having a nap in the clearing. The cheerful screams were always in my ears.

There was a staff member who greeted me, and she was the only human being on the huge venue. Her face was slightly tiring, her body is very strong, and her skin is flushed from the sun because of long-term outdoor work. “This place is really big.” I said, “I never thought that such a place exists in this city. Are you the only one who works here?” “I am on duty today.” She said, “Of course, there is not much staff here. If you don’t mind, I can show you around. I’m sorry that the conditions here are not very good.” I visited the whole area roughly, which has rich functions, but the equipment is relatively rudimentary, including but not limited to dog canteens, bathhouses, breastfeeding areas, and even simple medical centers.

“There are more than two thousand stray dogs here. My task is to take care of their daily life, such as cleaning, feeding, checking whether they are sick, and controlling their reproductive rate.” She said, “You can never think of how much food they need to eat in a day. In fact, it usually takes several pigs to feed them. Also, make sure that each dog has enough food. You know, some dogs are not good at grabbing food from other dogs.” “The cost is high, so what is your source of income? In other words, who funds this area and all the food and equipment?” I was curious. She smiled helplessly, “To be honest, our salary is very low. We are sponsored by an entrepreneur, and all the expenses are borne by him. He doesn’t come often, and I have never even seen him. This may be a way for the rich to assume social responsibility, you know, he is not obligated to do this.”

“But why are there so many stray dogs?” I continued to ask, “Seriously enough, we probably need such an institution to take them in. Two thousand dogs, this is incredible.” “There are many reasons though,” she said. “One of the most important reasons is that it is becoming more and more convenient to buy pets. You can even shop pets online. This has led to many young people impulsively spending on buying pets, but in fact, it takes a lot of money to raise a dog, not everyone can afford it.

Dogs also need the owner to have time to accompany them. Many people finally choose to give up, and their dogs can only stray. There are also some people who are forced to do so. Especially farmers, their houses are requisitioned by the government and they are forced to move out. Although the government will give them new apartment buildings for a living, dogs cannot be kept in apartment buildings. The last and most important thing is that ...” she paused for a while, “the stray dogs will mate without restriction and reproduce in large numbers. Moreover, unlike a used car, no one will buy or adopt a stray dog, because the dog’s loyalty prevents it from having a deeper relationship with the second owner. Anyways, this is a very serious social problem.”

Before I left, I plucked up the courage to ask her one last question, which I wanted to ask from the very beginning. “There are so many stray dogs, but your strength alone is limited. You and your friends, including the entrepreneur who funded you, cannot adopt all stray dogs. What is the point of doing so?”

She laughed. It was the first time that she had laughed since I was with her that day. “You are not the first person to ask this question. I have thought about it for a long time. I wonder if you have ever seen a movie called Shawshank’s Redemption.  It talks about a banker who is wronged to be sentenced to life imprisonment, but he uses a very small hammer to dig a hole without being discovered for decades, and finally escaped from the prison. At the same time, he uses his own actions to give most of the prisoners the strength to continue to live. I am not Shawshank, I don’t have that great ability, but I’m doing my best to improve the world, which is a large version of a prison, even a little bit.”