Sympathizers pay woman's stray pet debt

A woman received a suspended sentence after Internet users helped her repay the 220,000 yuan ($35,000) she embezzled from her company to feed stray dogs and cats.

A court in Beijing's Huairou district sentenced 50-year-old Guan to three years of imprisonment with a three-year suspension, the Legal Mirror, a Beijing-based evening newspaper, reported on Tuesday.

The court verdict said Guan embezzled the money from her company's account between June 2009 and Feb 2012, all of which went to feed stray dogs and cats.

Guan has been adopting stray dogs and cats since 2000 and regularly fed more than 70 of them her home. However, the monthly expenses increased to more than 7,000 yuan and she could barely make ends meet.

The court said it decided to reduce the punishment to Guan because she managed to repay all the money she embezzled. The money was donated by more than 5,000 Internet users who read Guan's story online.