HER love for stray dogs was so strong that even her hubby had to play second fiddle.

Fed up, he issued an ultimatum – either the dogs went, or he did.

After six months of deliberation, Ms Zeng Yuqing, 42, chose the dogs that she had adopted in Johor, reported Malaysian daily China Press.

That was 10 years ago. The couple then divorced. “If he loves me, he should accept me for who I am,” said Ms Zeng, a Singaporean.

Besides, she reasoned, her hubby could take care of himself, but the stray dogs had no one to turn to if she abandoned them.

At that time, she had about 10 stray dogs in her rented house in Kempas Anggerik, about 10km from Johor Baru city centre. Over a decade, that number has swelled to 200.

The price of love

Her love affair comes with a heavy price though. It costs RM7,000 ($2,900) a month to take care of the dogs.

Her $1,200 monthly salary is hardly enough to cover the costs. She had been living on her savings and $220,000 from selling her flat in Singapore five years ago.

Needless to say, her savings are fast drying up. The 200 dogs consume 30 kg of rice cooked with chicken meat or organs every day, or 50kg of dog food.

As dog food is costlier, Ms Zeng would rather wake up earlier to cook for them.

She said she is up by 3am every day to feed them and clean up her home before taking the bus to Singapore for work at 6.30am.

Worried that the dogs would go hungry in the afternoon, she hired a helper to cook for them while she’s at work.

After she reaches home at 6.30pm, she would then clean the place again and check if any of the dogs are sick.

She goes to bed around midnight.

Ms Zeng’s weekends are spent bathing and playing with the dogs.

It feels relaxing to be with them, she said, as this takes her mind off work.

Ms Zeng’s love affair with the strays started 10 years ago during a trip to Johor Baru.

She saw a stray dog being forcefully pulled onto a truck by the authorities, and felt very sorry for the dogs.

It prompted her to gather the strays in the area and keep them in the rented house, which led to the rift with her ex-husband.

In spite of her problems, she has no intentions of scaling down her “operations”.

Instead, she is planning to move to a bigger house that can accomodate 400 dogs as her current place is becoming overcrowded.

To see to the move, Ms Zeng intends to take two weeks of no-pay leave.

This article was first published in The New Paper.