A 53-year-old monk named Zhixiang lives at the Baoen Buddhist Temple in Shanghai, China. For 27 years now, he has been saving homeless and sick animals: cats, dogs, chickens, geese and even peacocks totalling about 8,000.“Sometimes parishioners do not understand why I am doing this. Maybe they think monks should sit in the temple around the clock and chant the scriptures, Zhixiang says. “But Buddha tells us to save lives, because all lives are equal. I'm trying my best. "
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov's comment: “I think this is true humanism and another proof that all on Earth have the right to life. Of course, we need to help not only people, but also our four-legged friends. I always remember Archbishop Zosima, the time when he was still serving in Kalmykia. He kept many dogs and cats on the territory of an Orthodox church. People brought them to him, and sometimes he himself picked them up from the street. He fed, treated and looked after each of them..."
