Super Zoo

Suming, with two dogs in tow, showed off on the highway for over half an hour in his convertible Wrangler, and the wolf-dogs with their goggles were too eye-catching. Passing vehicles couldn't help but look their way, until they were stopped at a toll station by a traffic cop. A middle-aged officer saluted him and gave Suming a serious talking-to.

"Although I can't find any traffic regulations to penalize you, as a traffic officer, and also as a father, I must remind you: Reckless driving endangers both yourself and others!"

Despite the reprimand, Suming was actually grateful to the traffic officer. After all, who doesn't make mistakes? Everyone can be reckless in their youth, but acknowledging your errors is the key to change, and recklessness doesn't equal ignorance.

"It's all your fault, you two! See what showing off has led to?" Then, Suming turned his head and sternly scolded the wolf-dog brothers, confiscating their goggles and making them lie down obediently in the backseat before continuing the journey.

Near Yangchuan and Changping, there were many mountains, rivers, and streams. After getting off the highway, Suming continued along a mountain ring road for half a day before entering a bumpy dirt road. Following this road and enduring the bumpy ride, they arrived at their destination just as it was getting dark.

From a distance, the rescue station looked like a large farmhouse, surrounded by red brick walls, and two old rusty iron gates which had a metal sign hanging crookedly, painted with a few words: Changping County Animal Rescue Station.

As soon as the car stopped, Su Meng jumped out, clutching the door, retching violently—this guy had not been feeling well throughout the trip and suffered from severe motion sickness.

After Su Meng finally felt a bit better from vomiting, he leaned pale against the door. Even though he was nearly two meters tall, he looked surprisingly weak, leaving Suming speechless. Suming then passed a wave of spiritual power over to him and found that the guy was indeed just suffering from motion sickness, nothing serious.

It was odd, spiritual power didn't work on anyone else, just on Su Meng. Could it be because he was a wild man, half human, half animal? Or was it because his mind was simpler?

The two wolf-dogs, however, were full of energy, despite their 'hair' being messy. Their fur was whipped into disarray by the wind along the way, making them look like wild dogs at first glance.

Suming got a bottle of mineral water from the back of the car for Su Meng and then went up to knock on the door. As he approached the gate, a series of dog barks came from inside the yard.

Having dealt with animals for a long time, Suming could tell, even without using spiritual power, that these barks were pitiful, not aggressive. The dogs were barking in fear due to the approach of strangers.

The gatekeeper was a man in his fifties named Lin, who was also the head of the animal rescue station. Suming explained his purpose and handed over his work ID.

"Ah, you're finally here!"

Mr. Lin complained non-stop as he opened the gate: "Those so-called animal lovers, do they have nothing better to do, bringing in so many dogs? There are only two of us here; how can we possibly take care of them all..."

Suming didn't know what to say. Workers like Lin at the grass-roots level had their own difficulties. It was okay for him to vent a little—it was no big deal. While listening to Lin's complaints, Suming parked the car in front, and then, along with Su Meng and the wolf-dog brothers, followed him inside.

As he stepped through the main gate of the courtyard, he hadn't yet seen any dog, but a pungent kennel smell hit his nose, making him slightly furrow his brow.

It was only after he walked further in that he saw the rather large courtyard littered with dog cages of all sizes, probably over a hundred of them. Some cages were empty, but the rest held all sorts of dogs.

The majority were the kind of local dogs used for guarding homes in rural areas. Besides those, there were also a few pet dogs: Huskies, Golden Retrievers, mixed wolf dogs... Suming even spotted a Chihuahua and a Bulldog.

He really couldn't understand: the local dogs and even the Huskies still seemed to have some flesh on them, but what about the Chihuahua and the Shar-Pei? Those creatures were nothing but skin and bones, with hardly any meat. How could someone eat that? Besides, it's usually the black and yellow dogs that taste somewhat better. Who's ever heard of eating a Chihuahua?

Whether they were local dogs or pet dogs, they all had one thing in common: dirtiness! Their fur was matted together, and at first glance, they resembled giant mop heads. Many of the dogs had visible wounds, some with scabs, some still oozing pus and blood, and a few dogs' legs were bent at strange angles, clearly broken.

Overall, the sight was incredibly pitiable. The dogs, seeing someone approach, trembled terribly and huddled in the corners of their cages, whimpering softly.

Following behind, Su Meng didn't have many thoughts about the scene. To him, these creatures were no different from ordinary animals; they were all edible. Su Meng's classification was very simple, just two categories: edible and non-edible. Suming and the wolf dog brothers were non-edible, but these dogs seemed to be edible...

The wolf dog brothers, upon seeing these 'fellow creatures', barked a few times and then trotted over to the cages, sniffing the dogs inside with their noses. They meant no harm, but this friendly gesture from one of their own kind only frightened the dogs in the cages even more.

Mr. Lin led the way at the front, complaining as he walked. He grumbled about how some dog lovers were creating unnecessary problems and went on to say that his small rescue station was struggling financially and couldn't afford to keep these dogs.

Suming didn't say much, waiting until Mr. Lin's complaints had mostly subsided before finding an opportunity to ask, "Lin, how many dogs do we have here now?"

"We had one hundred and fifty when they arrived, and every day some die. Now we only have a bit over eighty left. Look, they're all here!" Mr. Lin pointed to the courtyard in front of him and started complaining again, "Mr. Su, you're from the higher-ups, you don't know the difficulties we face here. I mean, our little station gets an annual budget of only a hundred thousand yuan, including the salary for myself and a temp worker. Where's the money to feed them?"

"Can't you ask the management body for some special funding?" Suming pointed at a dog with a broken hind leg and said, "At the very least, get them some medicine. Otherwise, they're all going to die, aren't they?"

Lin glanced around to make sure no one was listening, then tugged at Suming's sleeve and whispered, "Mr. Su, to be honest, our rescue station can't compare to your zoo. It's like a bottomless pit, no matter how much money we have, it's never enough!"

"But we can't just ignore them, can we? This matter has already hit the news." Suming frowned, feeling that it was unacceptable to just watch this many animals die here.

"The funds allocated under normal circumstances are barely enough, but who would have expected hundreds of dogs to come all at once!"

"There has to be some sort of solution," Suming said with a frown.