Deripaska was upset that thousands of strays were being put down by authorities after a pest control company was handed a contract.
So he took it upon himself to build these dog shelters in Baranovka near Sochi.
He told the BBC: "My first dog I found in the street of my village, the tiny village [where I grew up]."
"It was a very close friend for five years."
Stray dogs had been attracted to Sochi by the huge number of construction workers there.
After one interfered with rehearsals for the opening ceremony and another bit a child, an extermination company was called in.
The company's director described the dogs as "biological trash", and there was outrage.
There were estimates that up to 7,000 dogs were killed using poison and traps.
Deripaska is the boss of the biggest aluminium company in the world.
So far he's managed to save 140 dogs, and a number have been successfully rehomed.
