HKDR was founded in 2003 for the specific purpose of saving dogs and puppies from the Hong Kong Government's Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) Animal Management Centres, where around 7,000 dogs and puppies are destroyed every year. A lot them of are family pets that have been abandoned on the street or in country parks, while others have been directly surrendered. Many are puppies that are the result of irresponsible owners not desexing their pets, or are those born to abandoned or stray dogs. They all have one thing in common and that is that they are homeless and unwanted, and have just four days to live unless they are chosen for re-homing.

Only a small percentage of these dogs and puppies are lucky enough to be rescued by HKDR, after which the larger ones will be taken care of at the main Tai Po Homing Centre, while smaller dogs awaiting re-homing will stay at the Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre.