Over 100 ''Quake Dogs'' Get Medical Aid in China

An injured dog scoots around an animal shelter outside the city of Chengdu in China's Sichuan Province on June 26 2008, with the aid of a walker cobbled together with PVC pipes.

The dog is one of about a hundred rescued and rehabilitated in the wake of the May 12 earthquake that killed nearly 70,000 people. Thousands of other dogs weren't so lucky. They were culled in a government program meant to prevent disease from spreading in the quake's aftermath.

A worker at an animal shelter near Chengdu, China, assembles a wheelchair on July 12, 2008 for a dog injured in the May 12 earthquake.

The shelter is run by Chen Yunlian, a 60-year-old retired cosmetics distributor. She cares for more than 900 dogs and 100 cats, including about 100 dogs she adopted following the devastating quake.

"I started down a road," she told the Associated Press, "and I couldn't turn around."

Iditarod training? Not quite. The man in the June 29 photo above works with five "quake dogs" outfitted with makeshift wheelchairs at an animal shelter near Chengdu, China. While pet ownership has risen in China, dog meat is still eaten in some regions.

"Olympics approved" restaurants, however, won't serve dog. "Dog meat sales are being suspended as a mark of respect for foreigners and people from ethnic groups," an official told the Beijing Daily newspaper on July 11.

A dog sits among the rubble in Shifang in Sichuan Province on May 16, four days after a devastating earthquake struck China.

Pets are banned from many of the tent camps where millions of refugees have taken temporary shelter.

"As a result, some displaced people have been keeping the pets in their damaged homes, which is a safety risk to both the owner and pet," Jill Robinson, founder of the animal-welfare group Animals Asia, told the China Post on June 9.

Yelp! A stray dog receives medical treatment at an animal shelter outside Chengdu, China, on June 28.

More than a hundred dogs were rescued following the May 12 earthquake. Most are mutts: terrier-Pekingese-pug-poodle mixes with squat bodies, short legs, curly tails, and pointy ears.

"Chinese people prefer purebred dogs, and the mixes probably won't be adopted," Chen Yunlian, who runs the shelter, told the Associated Press on June 27. "But mutts are the most intelligent and affectionate."

Paramilitary officers remove the bodies of dead dogs from the devastated town of Yingxiu, China, on May 22.

Thousands of dogs were killed in the aftermath of the May 12 earthquake out of fears they would fight with humans for food and spread disease.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare entered an agreement with officials in nearby Zun Dao township to prevent a similar slaughter. Instead of culls, dogs there were given rabies vaccinations and given veterinary aid.

Credit: Associated Press