06/22/2026
She was 66 years old when she made a journey most people would never consider.
While millions of people around the world shared petitions and expressed outrage over China's Yulin Dog Meat Festival, retired schoolteacher Yang Xiaoyun chose a different path. She boarded a train and traveled more than 1,500 miles to Yulin, determined to save as many animals as she could.
It wasn't the first time she had made such a sacrifice.
For years, Yang had devoted her retirement to rescuing abandoned and abused animals. At her shelter in Tianjin, known as Common Home for Stray Animals, she cared for more than 1,500 dogs and 200 cats. Every morning before sunrise, she prepared food for the animals she lovingly called her "children," spending nearly all of her time—and much of her family's savings—giving forgotten animals a second chance.
But Yulin was different.
She knew exactly what waited behind those cages.
Reports from 2015 said Yang spent more than $40,000 of her own money rescuing approximately 500 dogs and 100 cats from the meat markets, transporting them back to her shelter where they could finally know safety instead of fear. In previous years, she had also worked with fellow animal advocates to stop trucks carrying dogs and purchase animals before they were slaughtered.
The hardest part was that her kindness was often used against her.
Yang said vendors recognized her from earlier rescues. They mocked her, asking how much money she had brought this time. Knowing she couldn't bear to leave the animals behind, some reportedly raised their prices because they knew she would do everything she could to save them.
Still, she kept coming back.
She had already sacrificed so much. Reports said she had spent family money on rescue efforts and even faced rejection from relatives because of her work. Yet every year, she returned because, for the frightened dogs waiting in those cages, she might be the only person standing between them and death.
"These dogs and cats are all abandoned and abused," Yang once said. "Now that I've come this far, no matter what happens I will never give up on them."
Yang knew she could not end the dog meat trade by herself. She could not rescue every animal.
But for the hundreds she carried out of those cages, everything changed.
They would never have to wonder what tomorrow would bring again. They would know kindness instead of cruelty, and the chance to spend the rest of their lives in safety.
Sometimes compassion isn't loud. It isn't easy. And it certainly isn't convenient.
Sometimes it's one person quietly walking into a place filled with suffering and deciding that, if she can't save them all, she'll save the ones she can.
For those hundreds of dogs and cats, that decision meant everything. ❤️🐾
-----
*Every like, comment, and share reminds us that dogs and the humans who care for them matter. If you’d like to help us continue researching and posting these stories, please follow us.
