A dog lover hugs rescued stray dogs in Ma'anshan, East China's Anhui Province. Photo: VCG

A man in Southwest China has borrowed 600,000 yuan ($86,700) to raise more than 200 stray dogs, and his parents in their late 60s have to work to help him pay off his debts.

Zhang Kai, who works in a state-owned enterprise in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, has been keeping stray dogs in a 400-square-meter factory since 2017, Chengdu Economic Daily reported on Friday.

As the number of dogs began to grow, he opened a protection center.

However, low donations and income meant he was unable to maintain the center, prompting him to take out loans, which resulted in his wife almost divorcing him.

Zhang's retired parents have had to continue working and use their pension to help pay their son's debts.

"We could have lived a good life if he didn't raise the dogs," Zhang's mother Huang Mingshu told the newspaper. She called for warm-hearted people to adopt some of the dogs, which would help Zhang reduce his financial pressure.  

Chengdu Economic Daily