A person in American horror, wearing two versions of The Witcher

A detached, single-story red brick house, faded wooden signs, a parking lot marked for veterinarians/emergency use, an outdoor activity area enclosed by wire mesh...

Dilapidated, noisy, and smelly—that was Roy's first impression of the Ventura County Animal Services - Santa Paula branch.

"Ahem, Uncle Lysen, I'm here to serve. Do I need to fill out a form first? Ahem!"

As soon as Roy pushed open the glass door, the smell of disinfectant mixed with cat litter and dog litter made him choke.

Then I stepped onto the old carpet, which was a bit damp and sticky.

Faced with an empty front desk, Roy had no choice but to shout for someone.

"What form are you filling out? Damn it, wait for the supervisor to come back and let her fill it out. Right now, what you need to do is put on gloves and come in through that employee-only door."

Roy shook his head, not making the foolish mistake of asking where the gloves were or what he was going in there for.

After all, the Animal Services Department is just about taking care of cats and dogs and cleaning up their litter boxes, right?

He rummaged around at the front desk, found a pair of plastic gloves, put them on, and entered through the employee door.

As I walked in through the door, I couldn't help but catch a glimpse of the employee notice board hanging next to the door.

The sign had three photo frames printed side by side, but at this moment, the leftmost photo frame was covered with green tape, and the contact information below it was also covered up.

"Is that the Bennett kid? Perfect timing, the supervisor's out, and I was just worrying about not having enough staff when you arrived."

In front of the kennel and dog cages, Lysen called out to Roy, then continued to frown as he looked at the two Teddy dogs in the cages who kept getting up and bowing.

"I saw there were three photos on the employee notice board?" Roy asked tentatively.

"You're quite observant, kid. The higher-ups ran out of money, so they laid off everyone. Now it's just me and the supervisor."

Lysen replied without looking up, muttering as he added:

"Now there's less money, fewer people, and even more work."

"Damn it, the number of dogs being abandoned or dumped this year is almost three times that of the year before last; the cages are all full!"

"The economic situation is bad lately, there's a financial crisis, and what's this global financial storm all over the newspapers," Roy chimed in.

"What do you know, you high school student?"

Leisen retorted, then said seriously:

"Enough with the nonsense, come over here and keep an eye on things. If the dogs start fighting, you'd better separate them. If you do a good job, I'll treat you to a beer tonight."

As he spoke, Lyson took a can of dog food from his pocket and said to the bowing Teddy dog:

"The canned food for tomorrow morning will all be yours."

"Stop yelling and stop making a scene."

"A new friend is coming soon, so be good and don't bite it, understand?"

Inside the dog cage, two Teddy dogs seemed to understand, staring at the can of food and nodding frantically.

Lyson then signaled to Roy to get ready and moved the makeshift cage containing a dachshund next to the Teddy dog's cage.

After pouring the contents of the canned food into the Teddy dog's food bowl, he picked up the dachshund and, after both Teddy dogs had gathered around the food bowl to eat, quickly put the dachshund into the dog cage.

This is his personal trick for keeping dogs in the same cage. If the dogs don't fight when being fed, they won't get injured or maimed at other times either.

Roy watched, bewildered, and prepared, bewildered...

Then, the dachshunds, smelling the canned food, squeezed together with the two poodles and rushed towards the food bowl.

The two poodles, who were originally able to eat together peacefully, suddenly started baring their teeth and guarding their food after the dachshund joined in. The three small dogs immediately started tearing each other apart in the dog cage.

"Quickly, help separate them, separate them!"

Lysen immediately yelled, and Roy quickly reached out and grabbed Teddy by the scruff of his neck...

After a while, the two men managed to separate the three dogs.

"You broke your promise!" Leisen scolded the two teddy bears wearily.

Then, looking at the dachshund in the makeshift cage, watching it skillfully vomit up the canned food it had just snatched and eagerly chew it, he lowered his voice with a sense of helplessness:

"What should I do with you, you little thing?"

"Can't you be a little more obedient?"

"If you keep doing this, and there's nowhere to lock you up, you'll have to be euthanized."

"You're about to be sent away, little thing!"

He talked to the dog for a while longer before turning to look at Roy beside him and saying:

"Hey, good lad, pretty efficient, but..."

"Hey, I actually lied to you earlier. You're still a minor, so the bar can't sell you beer."

"As for me, I actually had my salary reduced, so I don't have money to buy you beer."

"Look, I can't even afford to pay for their extra dog food tomorrow..."

His emotions clearly sombered as he finished speaking.

Roy smacked his lips, but looking at the dachshund in the makeshift cage and the poodle licking its food bowl, he shook his head and said nothing more.

"Hey kid, I'll make sure to write lots of nice things about you in that 'community service judgment,' and I'll also say a lot of good things about you in front of old Bennett."

Seeing that Roy didn't intend to pursue the matter, Lyson quickly said he didn't want the money, and then, a thought crossed his mind:

"Hey kid, look at these dogs, they're kind of pitiful, could you...?"

beep...beep...

The sudden vibration of the Nokia phone interrupted Leisen's thoughts.

Leisen paused for a moment, patted Roy on the shoulder, and went to the dog kennel to pick up his phone.

To avoid scaring cats and dogs, he usually keeps it on vibrate and doesn't carry it with him.

"Um... um... okay, I'll be right there!"

After a brief phone call, Lyson, looking slightly tense, put his arm around Roy's shoulder and said:

"Kid, come with me on a field assignment. The supervisor's there too."

"Maybe if you perform well, your supervisor might shorten your service period?"

Having said that, he rolled up his sleeves and simultaneously directed Roy:

"Give me a hand, help me lift this mobile cage."

"Yes, lift it onto the car... Yes, good lad."

"And those bite-proof gloves and bite-proof shoulder pads, two sets."

"Yes, try wearing it like me."

"And that, the heavy-duty dog ​​catcher."

"No, no, no, that's not for you."

"Do you see that shield leaning against the wall over there?"

"That's for you! To prevent you from getting bitten."

"Alright, buddy, lock the door and get in the car."

……

10 minutes later,

The service bureau's No. 3 pickup truck slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road, stopping next to a black and white painted Ford Crown police car.

Directly in front of it is a three-story building with a courtyard.

The gate was open, there was no one outside, and the courtyard was still quiet.

Roy got out of the car and helped lift the mobile cage off the vehicle.

Then, wearing a bite protection suit, holding a bite protection shield, and lifting one end of the mobile cage, he followed Leisen into the yard with extra caution.

Upon entering the hospital gate,

Then they saw the owner of the Crown police car, Joe's father, Sheriff John, standing with his gun pointed at a German Shepherd lying in front of the glass door.

Roy looked closely,

Then I noticed that the German Shepherd also had a scarlet badge on its head, just like Jennifer's:

[Werewolf (in transformation)]

……