Old Woman Sells Food During the Day, Takes Care of 100+ Stray Cats and Dogs at Night

While we hear so many stories of people leaving their pets in the streets or in the forest because they no longer know how they can take care of these animals, there are also many who sacrifice their own comfort just to protect animals.

Take for example 64-year-old Huang Xiuying, a food vendor at Ayer Hitam in Johor, Malaysia. While she spends her days at her stall, selling rice and rice viands for a living, she spends the rest of the day taking care of stray cats and dogs.

Photo credit: Kwong Wah Daily

To date, she takes care of over 100 cats and dogs, many of which had been left by their owners or those she picked up from the animal shelter.

Seeing stray dogs often remind me of my own dogs. So I wound up bringing home one stray dog after another. Some were brought in from the Penang City Hall, others from people who brought them to me,” Xiuying explained.

According to Xiuying, the idea of saving these dogs and cats came after she lost one of her two beloved dogs to a passing car who didn’t even bother to stop and check whether the dog was alright. Since then, she took many dogs under her care.

Photo credit: Kwong Wah Daily

Of course, taking care of these many pets means also spending a lot of money on them! Not only does she spend RM450 ($108) for renting the shelter where the animals are kept, she also pays the workers RM 1,500 ($360) to feed the animals and keep the area clean.

That’s not to mention the money she spends to neuter or spay the dogs and cats under her care, plus food expenses, too!

Photo credit: Kwong Wah Daily

But Xiuying works tirelessly at her chicken and rice stall to earn money for these animals. She opens the shop early. At the end of the day, she would walk for about 15 minutes to reach the shelter so she could also personally take care of the animals.

It was physically and financially exhausting, but Xiuying doesn’t mind.

“When I see that they (the strays) have a place to eat and stay, it makes me feel happy. It’s not difficult to take care of them. I just think of it like doing house chores,” she explained, shared World of Buzz.

Photo credit: Kwong Wah Daily

What is an Animal Shelter?

An animal shelter is a place that takes care of stray or unwanted animals. These animals can be adopted by interested people, sometimes for a fee but often for free; they only have to pay for the adoption papers and some vaccines the pets might need.

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