Chapter 525: Ear Tag
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The compartment of the MPV was smelly and was filled with the foul odor of dog excrement. There were at least four or five dogs lying on the floor of the compartment, and their forelimbs and hind legs were tied by nylon straps. There were also muzzles on their mouths to prevent them from barking or biting.
The white hair of Tuan Tuan, Ning Lan’s Samoyed, had turned gray and dirty. It was extremely weak. If it was found one day later, it would have been dead. Seeing the face of its owner, Tuan Tuan struggled to raise its head but then fell weakly to the ground.
Zhang Zian noticed that this vehicle had been crudely modified. An iron buckle covered with a leather handle was installed on the floor, probably for the criminals to stabilize themselves and to avoid being dragged out of the vehicle when they trapped the large-sized dogs.
Ning Lan cried and rushed into the compartment. She held Tuan Tuan in her arms and tried to untie its straps and muzzle with her trembling hands. But it’s impossible to untie the nylon straps once they were fastened. There was a small-sized versatile Swiss army knife on Zhang Zian’s key chain, and he used it to help her cut the straps and the rope of the muzzle.
The trio of dog-trappers were not wearing seat belts when the collision happened. They were dizzy, and they couldn’t get up from the ground for the time being due to the impact. Zhang Zian saw there were extra nylon straps in the vehicle, so he asked the students to tie up the trio with their hands behind their backs to prevent them from hurting others violently.
More than one person had recorded the process with their cell phone. It was evident that the trio of dog-trappers absconded after they tried to hit people. The trio would not be able to deny it.
It was narrow inside the car. Ning Lan’s two relatively strong male classmates helped Ning Lan take Tuan Tuan from the car. While sobbing, she called her parents and told them that Tuan Tuan had been found, but it was in poor condition and needed to receive treatment as soon as possible.
Zhang Zian also picked up his phone and called Sun Xiaomeng to tell her what happened just now. He noticed that several other dogs were still lying inside the car and were dying. He took pictures of these dogs and sent them to Sun Xiaomeng, so that two of her customers whose last names were Li and Qian, respectively, could come and retrieve their dogs.
When Ning Lan and Zhang Zian hung up the phone, Sun Xiaomeng called Ning Lan to tell her some necessary first-aid measures, and said that she was coming this way immediately with customer Li and customer Qian.
Although someone had called the police, just to be sure, Zhang Zian made a phone call to Sheng Ke, and briefed him about the situation here. He asked him to inform the patrol officers around this area.
While he was on the phone, Zhan Tian seemed to have found something because it quietly jumped into the compartment and rubbed a dog that was lying on the ground with its nose.
This was also a German Shepherd but seemed very old because its teeth had been severely worn out. With eyes half-closed, it was lying in the compartment and was critically ill.
“Woof!”
Zhan Tian jumped out of the car. It shook its tail as it went next to Zhang Xian who was in the middle of a phone call. It kept barking at and circling around Zhang Zian, as if trying to remind him of some things. Zhang Zian noted the abnormal behavior of Zhan Tian, so he asked Sheng Ke to stay on the line because a new situation may be arising.
“What’s up, Zhan Tian?” he asked.
Zhan Tian looked at him, and then looked back at the German Shepherd that was lying in the compartment.
Zhang Zian silently asked Famous with his eyes about the matter. Famous jumped into the car to observe the dying German Shepherd. Famous shook its head and indicated that it had no idea what’s going on.
Zhan Tian grew more anxious. It opened its mouth and bit the leg of the trousers of Zhang Zian and pulled him to the car.
He got into the compartment and crouched down to check the German Shepherd. Although it was still unclear what Zhan Tian had found, Zhang Zian cut off the straps and muzzle on the German Shepherd to make it feel better.
Zhan Tian whimpered, stretched out a fore paw to pull the ear of this German Shepherd.
Zhang Zian pinched its ear and felt that he had touched something. As he pushed aside the short hair on its ear, a long list of numbers was exposed.
“Is this an … ear tag?”
Dogs with ear tags were rarely seen. Usually only breeding dogs, show dogs, and police dogs wore ear tags.
This German Shepherd was of mediocre condition and didn’t seem like a breeding dog or a show dog. Was it also a retired police dog?
Zhang Zian took a picture of this string of numbers that began with 156, and then sent the image to Fu Tao for confirmation. Fu Tao was the owner of a police dog nursing home.
Fu Tao quickly replied and confirmed his speculation. He explained that before 2012, all the police dogs in China were marked with ear tags, which served as the ID card of the police dogs. However, since the piercing of ear tags was similar to the pain of getting a tattoo, in the years after 2012, chips that were embedded in the neck of the police dogs had gradually replaced the ear tags. Hence, police dogs with ear tags were of advanced age now.
Zhang Zian asked Zhan Tian, “Do you know this police dog? Is it your friend…or your family?”
Zhan Tian was not able to answer him. Zhan Tian whined and pulled the dying police dog with its mouth, trying to help it stand up.
Zhang Zian had always thought that Zhan Tian brought them to this place because it had tracked down the smell of the gang of the dog-trappers. But maybe he was wrong. Perhaps it was tracking down the smell of its old friend or its family.
He learned from Old Yang and Fu Tao that individuals could apply for the adoption of a retired police dog. Although the threshold was relatively high, it was indeed viable. That’s why he was able to adopt Zhan Tian.
Since he was able to adopt a retired police dog, it meant that there were other people who had succeeded in adopting police dogs. This German Shepherd might have already been adopted by an individual, and when its owner took it outside for a walk, it was trapped and stolen by the gang. Zhan Tian was almost trapped by the criminals. Luckily, Zhan Tian was still young and agile, otherwise, it would have been lying in the compartment with this aged German Shepherd.
Zhang Zian picked up his phone and asked, “Captain Sheng, are you still there?”
“Yes. What did you just find out?” Sheng Ke asked over the phone.
“A retired police dog has been found with these dogs.” Zhang Zian paused for a moment and added, “This police dog is in a bad state and may die very soon. I’m going to take a picture of the serial number of its ear tag and send it to you. Could you please check out who has adopted it and inform its owner to come over?”
Sheng Ke went silent for a moment and said in a deep voice, “All right. Thank you.”
Zhang Zian hung up the phone, photographed the ear tag number and sent it to Sheng Ke’s personal WeChat account. Ordinary people had no access to the internal files of police dogs, so this task could only be carried out by Captain Sheng.
Ning Lan’s classmates posted what they had recorded or photographed to all kinds of social media and caused an uproar very soon.
Within only a few minutes, Zhang Zian heard sirens blaring from afar. Several police vehicles with flashing alarm lights drove into the urban village and parked in front of the courtyard.
A few police officers stepped down from the vehicles, pulled up to the cordon and advised the onlookers and tenants to leave. The chief police officer among the squad raised his voice and asked, “Who called the police?”
“I did,” Zhang Zian came forward bravely. Ning Lan only called the police at his behest, of course, he should be the one to assume the responsibility.
“We have heard of the general situation from Captain Sheng. Please tell us about the accident in detail, and we will take dictation.” The chief police officer said.
