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Pilot spends his money and time helping Taiwan's stray dogs

CNA
2012-07-17
08:03 (GMT+8)



Jesse Wang poses with one of his dogs. (Courtesy of Jesse Wang's Facebook)

"Helping stray dogs is not going to save the world, but it could change the lives of the animals." This was the message from a Taiwanese civil aviation pilot who has rescued over 30 dogs in the last two years. The message in a recent video has gone viral on the internet.

In the past two years, Jesse Wang, 51, has adopted 20 dogs from animal shelters and helped treat 10 injured dogs he found on the streets. The total cost of this humanitarian work cost him around NT$1 million (US$33,300).

Earning over NT$3 million (US$100,000) per year, Wang considers himself well off enough to spend this amount of money on stray dogs. But part of the reason why he can afford to help animals is that he lives a simple life. He drives a 20-year-old car and is more than willing to reduce his material comfort to the lowest level in order to help other living beings.

"Compared with many people who are struggling with life, I am lucky to have a really good job with a relatively high income," he said. "I am obligated to do more than others."

He continued, "My life has become more meaningful by saving more lives and not asking for anything in return. You can always make money, but their lives cannot wait," Wang said in a nine-minute clip on the Taiwan Citizen Journalism Platform, a blog for citizen journalists to post their coverage.

The video has touched the hearts of many animal lovers. As of Sunday, there were around 6,000 views of the video on YouTube. The story of Wang inspired his old colleague, a retired pilot, who posted the video on the website to highlight the issue of abandoned animals.

Wang started to feed stray dogs and devoted himself to animal care after his first pet dog Jimmy got lost in 1987. Wang said in another interview posted on the website that he waited in the animal shelter near where he lives every day for three months, but Jimmy never came home.

Although Taiwan's Animal Welfare Law was launched in 1998, it has achieved poor results and provided no punishment for people who breed animals illegally and those who abandon or abuse their pets, he said. Instead of providing proper care to stray dogs and promoting animal protection awareness among the public, the government kills over 80,000 stray dogs every year, he said.

Stray animals, regardless of their health conditions, are put down in 12 days if no one adopts them after they are caught and sent to the shelters," Wang said. "The issue of government policies is too complicated; I prefer to do it myself with some of my friends who also love dogs."

Speaking with tears in his eyes in the clip, Wang said not being able to find permanent homes for animals that manage to survive through many surgeries is the most unbearable experience he has been through.

"Saving one dog, 100 dogs or even 1,000 dogs will not change our society, but the whole world of the animals you help will have been changed," he said.