Pet King

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Zhang Zian drove the Wuling Hong Guang MPV back to the pet store. Instead of turning on the air conditioner, he opened the window. Not only was it fuel-efficient, but he had also been driving the whole day. Pets, including aquatic ones, would’ve inevitably begun to smell. Thus, keeping the car window closed in summer was a bad idea.

To his surprise, Grandma Gu stood at the door shaking slightly whilst fanning herself with a small palm fan as if waiting for him to appear.

“Grandma Gu!” He got out of the car, opened the door of the store and invited Grandma Gu to hurriedly get inside. “Why don’t you come in, there’s air conditioning inside.”

To attract customers, the glass door of the pet shop was decorated with a sign that read: “Air conditioning is operational” placed next to the aquarium. The air conditioner was more powerful, while the outdoor unit worked 24 hours a day. It was estimated that the electricity bill that month would be exorbitant.

“Well, I don’t feel hot. The fan is just right. I’m old, and I can’t stand the air conditioning. I’m prone to getting sick from them,” Grandma Gu explained.

Grandma Gu didn’t enter the store, but Richard took the opportunity to rush out of the store and fly onto Zhang Zian’s shoulder.

“What do you mean, you’re getting old? Grandma Gu, you keep getting younger! 82 this year, 28 the next year!” he said.

“I’m not 82 this year! Do I look that old?”Grandma Gu stroked the wrinkles on her face, feeling slightly depressed.

“I didn’t mean it like that…” Zhang Zian immediately changed the subject, “Did you need something?”

“Well, the battle against the insect disaster seems to have come to an end. However, our sister cities that used birds as a biological deterrent haven’t been doing so well since they eat caterpillars.” Grandma Gu took out a piece of material. “There are cities nearby that need our help. These birds don’t breed easily. I heard from somewhere that we should consider the possibility of another insect disaster in nearby cities. We need to do our best to protect the environment and prevent these birds from. We should allow them to thrive so that they will benefit us as well.”

Zhang Zian listened carefully but didn’t think it had anything to do with him for a moment.

During the worst insect infestation, certain breeds of caterpillars had developed strong resistance toward insecticides, resulting in their ineffectiveness. They had to employ other pest control methods such as new insecticides or biological control. The use of birds was one such strategy amongst many others.

Grandma Gu took off her reading glasses and looked at Vladimir next to her. “Some people said that many birds were killed by cats who ate them.”

“Er… Do you mean stray cats?” asked Zhang Zian.

If stray cats were killing the birds, then Vladimir needed to strictly restrain them. They should not be underestimated. As soon as it was proven that stray cats were eating birds, they had to find a way to control them so they could deal with the problem.

Stray cats are the killers of small animals in urban areas. They hunted for different things and killed all mammals, rodents, reptiles, and particular birds in the city. In many places, this led to an ecological disaster.

Objectively speaking, this pest disaster in Binhai City was partly because there were too few wild birds in the city. Caterpillars needed to be suppressed in the early stages to prevent an outbreak. Even so, this situation existed in most cities.

Grandma Gu nodded initially, then shook her head. “Stray cats are really a problem, but there’s no solid solution as of now. All we can do is find a way to keep domesticated cats from eating birds. ”

It didn’t make sense to ask many people to keep domestic cats from not eating birds. How could domestic cats eat birds if they were raised indoors?

Only young people living in the city tended to hide their precious cats inside. Middle-aged people and the elderly, as well as cat owners living in suburbs and villages, were more inclined to raise their cats separately. They let their cats out during the day to find food to eat before returning home at night.

Apart from a few purebred cats unsuited for staying outdoors, it didn’t make sense for most cats to hunt or forage outdoors. They would’ve most likely returned hungry.

Along with China, the United States also had more than 80 million pet cats, more than half of which were in the state of free breeding. A large number of stray cats posed a serious threat to the livelihoods of urban small animals.

“You mean…”

As soon as Grandma Gu mentioned this, Zhang Zian could guess what she was asking, but he continued to listen.

“Little Zhang Zian, I know you have a wealth of knowledge about cats, dogs, and other pets. Do you have any suggestions? While this is the natural order of things, it’s a pity that the precious birds are being eaten by cats,” Grandma Gu said.

Zhang Zian thought for a moment, “There is one solution, but I’m afraid it’s cumbersome to do it. You’d have to go to the door-to-door and advertise to people. You can imagine the resistance you’ll face.”

Grandma Gu raised her head. “I’ll do it as long as it’s possible. I’ll take care of the rest!”

“This also used to be a headache for bird lovers abroad, but someone invented a kind of loose neck collar to hook around cats. It’s called “Birdsbesafe”, which just means ‘Bird Safety’. The names that foreigners come up with are rather strange…”

“Quack! Bird’s safety is safer,” Richard mumbled and clapped Zian’s head with its wings. “You need it, too.”

“Does this bird’s collar work?” Grandma Gu asked curiously, “If it works, I’ll go door-to-door far and wide! ”

“It should be of some use. This type of collar won’t affect the cat’s diet. It’s different from Elizabeth’s collar, but it’s extremely colorful. It’s so eye-catching that birds can see it from a distance and avoid it,” Zhang Zian gave Richard a warning look.

This type of collar benefitted not only birds but also any small animal with color-sensitive vision.

“Good! Then, Zhang Zian, you should sort out the information about the collar and the purchase price as soon as possible and send them to the street office. I’ll take care of it at once,” Grandma Gu clapped her hands together.

This type of collar wasn’t available in China, even on the all-purpose Taobao. However, there didn’t seem to be many technical specifications to make it. As long as the picture of it was copied, it shouldn’t be difficult to make it a replica here.

Grandma Gu left in a hurry to organize the staff to try promoting it to the whole street. Once it worked, she would try promoting it in the city.

“Quack! As the only bird and intelligence representative in the pet shop, I greatly appreciate the collar for bird safety. Aren’t you going to promote it in the pet shop first to save my life from any imminent threats?” Richard said seriously.

“It’s your beak that threatens your own life. As long as you know when to shut up, no cat is interested in your life. All your meat is simply covered in the smell of bird poop!”