Year of Dog channels human hearts to help homeless animals

As winter rolls slowly across China, charitable institutions, businesses, college students and ordinary residents have been moved to care for homeless animals that otherwise would face a bitter test of survival.

"The Chinese public has shown greater attention to animal welfare issues, which is evidence of society's humane spirit and continuous moral progress," Zhang Yue, a television talk show host and social activist, told Xinhua News Agency.

In 2018, the Year of the Dog by the Chinese lunar calendar, the first animal ambulance for strays on the Chinese mainland went into operation. It was funded by more than 8,000 Chinese citizens in a Kickstarter-like project proposed by local charity TA Foundation.