492 Dignity (2/2)

There were two rows of white-gray bungalows in the yard. An electric tricycle with fresh vegetables in its basket was parked in front of the houses.

Perhaps the dogs had heard the gate open because they started barking.

One row of bungalows served as a kennel, while the other row was for people.

The man locked the gate, brought the German Shepherd into the kennel, then greeted Zhang Zian and Old Yang, ”Come inside.”

Zhang Zian and Old Yang followed him into the house, but later realized that Famous didn't come with them.

Famous stayed outdoors, thoughtfully staring in the direction of the kennel.

”Let it play outside. The gate is closed, no one can come in to steal it,” said the man.

Zhang Zian nodded. He wasn't afraid that Famous would get lost.

A heater hung on the wall inside the house. Perhaps it was natural gas that was being burned, the house was very warm. Zhang Zian and Old Yang took off their coats and hung them on the coat rack.

”Feel free to sit down,” said the man. He then went to boil water for tea.

The furniture was simple, only some old tables and chairs. The only entertainment was a 32-inch TV.

After a moment, the man came back with a large iron teapot and three tea cups.

”Please enjoy a cup of tea, warm yourselves up.” He poured a cup of tea for Zhang Zian and Old Yang, then introduced himself, ”My name is Fu Tao, I own the nursing home.”

Zhang Zian and Old Yang introduced themselves and stated the intention of this trip. They wanted to find a place for a group of German Shepherds that had worked in the movie, Dog Warrior. Even though the German Shepherds weren't official police dogs, they had received training and had nowhere to go after filming. They couldn't return to the base, and it'd be difficult for them to be adopted by ordinary people.

There was more than one police dog nursing home in Binhai City, but Zhang Zian and Old Yang wanted to work with this one. If Fu Tao declined their request, they'd continue their search.

Feng Xuan had promised that part of the budget of the Dog Warrior would be devoted to finding a home for the German Shepherds. The crew would pay for the living expenses until the dogs died of natural causes so that caring for the German Shepherds wouldn't be a burden for the nursing home.

Honestly, Feng Xuan had allotted a considerable amount of money for the German Shepherds. To prevent someone from taking in the dogs just for the money, Zhang Zian and Old Yang deliberately told Fu Tao a modest price. If Fu Tao accepted the offer, they'd go into further detail.

Fu Tao pondered for a moment, and sighed. ”I understand the situation in general. I was also a police dog trainer in the Binhai Municipal Police Bureau, and I cared for the police dogs. I opened this nursing home for the German Shepherd that I had been training. Later, some of my colleagues sent their dogs to me, saying that they would feel reassured if I kept their dogs. Not that they weren't willing to keep their dogs, but they couldn't due to limitations. My colleagues come here to see their old comrades on holidays and stop by to support my business.”

Zhang Zian and Old Yang nodded, waiting for Fu Tao to continue speaking. The situations Fu Tao described, were very common. The police officers wanted to keep the retired police dogs, but their families wouldn't agree or where they lived didn't allow the raising of police dogs.

Fu Tao gestured to his surroundings. ”You've seen that I'm a loner here. Even though I want to raise your German Shepherds, I'm afraid that I can't. There are already a dozen retired police dogs I need to take care of...”

He didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was obvious.

Zhang Zian put aside the matter for the time being. He had been thinking of something this whole time, so he asked, ”You just went to walk the dog, right? Why don't you walk more dogs at the same time? Do you walk on dog at a time?”

Wang Qian and Li Kun were usually in charge of walking the puppies in Zhang Zian's pet shop. They took all of the puppies and walked them on a green field behind his pet shop. How taxing would it be to walk every puppy, one by one?

Fu Tao said with certainty, ”Yes. I walk one dog at a time.”

”Are you are afraid that they'll fight each other if you walk them together?”

Zhang Zian thought of what Liu had said, that these police dogs were so competitive that they wouldn't be able to perform tasks together unless they were related or friends.

”No. They too old to fight each other.” Fu Tao smiled and said plainly, ”How should I put this? Unlike pets in a shop, these police dogs have been accustomed to living and training with their owners. So, even though they're old, they're still proud, and I want them keep that pride. ”

These words touched Zhang Zian. He looked at Old Yang, and both of them thought that Fu Tao was the right person for the job.