Pensioner Yang Xiaoyun has gone from school teacher to one of China¡¯s most well-known and controversial animal rights activists.

Over the past two decades, Yang saved thousands of dogs from the slaughterhouse and the streets and continues to raise some of them in her home.

The former teacher is just one of many members of China¡¯s growing middle class that now are beginning to fight what they see as a barbaric abuse of man¡¯s best friend. The woman¡¯s neighbours, however, gave her a frosty reception, as they fiercely support what they see as a cultural tradition no different to consuming turkeys at Thanksgiving in America.

The woman wakes up early in the morning to take care of hundreds of stray cats and dogs. With buying 200 kilogrammes of food needed every day to feed the animals, she sold her home, re-mortgaged her son¡¯s home, and is in an 800,000-yuan worth of debt (119,906 dollars).

Some within animal rights circles worry that by buying up dogs en masse, Yang is simply encouraging more people, be it lazy dog owners or dog snatchers, to sell their animals to activists. One day when she visited a dog market, many there said they had come with the explicit hope of selling their dogs to Yang and her helpers.

Difficult words: former (-ex), barbaric (violent), man¡¯s best friend (a dog), frosty (unfriendly), stray (homeless), re-mortgage (to transfer as a security on a loan), en masse(in a group), explicit (clear).