Call of the wild proves too strong for Chinese animal lover Rain Wu

Rain Wu, 36, a veterinarian educated in New Zealand, feels lucky she had the chance to live with, and win the trust of, a group of wolves when French director Jean-Jacques Annaud shot his Chinese-language film in Inner Mongolia . While working at an animal hospital in Beijing, Wu carried out a successful operation on a young wolf called Cloudy, which was seriously ill with an intestinal obstruction. She was later invited to help the film's production team care for 16 wolves on the grasslands of northern China. Wu runs the Cuddles International Pets Resort on the outskirts of Beijing, caring for pets while the owners are away. Her dream is to set up an animal rescue centre.

My parents sent me to study finance in New Zealand where I also earned a master's degree in applied statistics. After graduation, I took a marketing job at a yacht sales company, then worked in a big shopping mall. But I was tired of repeating that kind of work everyday. Had the Australian embassy not turned down my visa request, I would have gone to Macquarie University to prepare to become a chartered accountant. But everything changed when I took a few veterinary science courses at Massey University while waiting for the visa. Born to love animals, I turned a new page in my life. "I'm not going to Australia," I told my parents. They were very disappointed, but couldn't change my mind. I love animals more than human beings.

The five-year study was intense and the tests were hard, but the work is full of fun. I never found the same joy when dealing with business or finance. Signing a big sales contract might make people feel good, but to me nothing makes you happier than saving an animal's life, seeing it wag its tail back home.

Sadly, what I remember most deeply are often the times when I failed to cure patients. I tried my best, but still felt bad for not being successful. Sometimes it was due to the limits of medical science, imperfect medical conditions, or economic considerations that stopped animal owners paying for costly operations. But there have been lots of happy moments, too. I did an operation on an old stray dog, called Twister, two years ago in Thailand. He was very weak and thin, with a pale face and broken legs. This year I returned and he's much stronger, his fur's shining. He recognised me immediately. He came up to me, happily wagging his tail. Even better was the news he had been adopted by a family in the US. I felt so happy for him.