She ran back into the fire. One shelter and 13 survivors carry on her legacy.

114 survivors. 13 needed somewhere to go.

Out of the 114 dogs who survived the fire, World of Angels stepped forward to take 13 into their direct care - dogs who had lost their home, their carer, and the familiar pack they had shared their lives with.

World of Angels launched an emergency fundraiser on their Instagram and Facebook to cover their veterinary treatment and transport to the shelter, but they were still short of the funding they needed. Lacking the funds, but refusing to turn any of the 13 dogs away, World of Angels Founder, Yiping Lai, reached out to us for help.

We were fortunate to be able to contribute an additional $5,000 AUD to support them, and help push their campaign to its target goal to secure transport and vet costs for all 13 dogs.

And in a matter of days, all the costs were covered, and their recovery began.

13 Lives that didn’t end that day

Each one of the survivors has a story, but two of them in particular stand out: Chloe and Sugar.

Both had already endured more than any animal should. And both, in very different ways, survived something that could have easily been the end of their story.

Chloe: Survived twice

Chloe had already beaten death once before the fire. Four years earlier, Lijie had found her on the dirt floor of an abandoned shelter, barely clinging to life. She was one of a thousand dogs who’d been left there, and she had a severely infected wound that had already spread to her organs.

The vet wasn't even sure she would survive.

But miraculously, she pulled through. And then years later, she survived again, narrowly escaping the fire that took so many of her companions. Chloe is one of the most resilient souls in this story, who deserves every bit of the second chance she’s received.

Sugar: Saved by chance

Sugar survived the fire by a stroke of luck. Lijie had actually taken Sugar to the vet for bladder surgery just that morning, so she wasn’t there when the fire broke out. If Sugar had been asleep in her usual spot in the shelter, she wouldn’t have made it out.

After the fire, when World of Angels brought Sugar in for a full examination, they saw that her spleen and kidney were still full of tiny stones. But it had been those tiny stones that saved her life.

Following her examination, Sugar was put on medication and a new diet, and her condition began to improve.

Sugar had lost her home, her carer, and the life she’d known - but she was alive, and getting the care she needed.

This is why we exist

Tragedies, crises, emergencies - all of these are exactly why Global Animal Welfare Fund exists. When a crisis hits, the ability to respond quickly is everything.

Organisations like World of Angels are doing incredible, life-saving work, but they operate in communities where resources are scarce, and emergencies can strike without warning.

Global Animal Welfare Fund partners with organisations like World of Angels because they have the trust of their local communities, the expertise to act, and the heart to continue showing up - even in the most difficult moments.

Our role is to make sure that when they do, the funding is there to back them up.

When you donate to Global Animal Welfare Fund, your donation isn’t going into a general fund. It’s going to projects like this, where it directly enables the work of vetted frontline rescuers - people just like the World of Angels team, who turned up for these 13 dogs in the wake of unimaginable loss, and still gave each one a reason to keep going.

For Lijie

Lijie gave everything for her animals, right until her last moment. The best way to honour her memory is to make sure the animals she loved are never without the care and protection they need.

The 13 survivors of that fire are now safe. They received medical care and were able to recover at the World of Angels shelter. And then when they were ready, every last one of them flew overseas to their forever home.

From the ashes of something devastating, a devoted rescue community came together, a community that includes every single person who believes animals deserve better.

If you'd like to be part of that, for these dogs and the many more who need us, you can make a donation to Global Animal Welfare Fund today. Every dollar goes directly to the frontline.