With a monthly salary of tens of thousands, he is often regarded as a thief... a self-report of "professional pets"

　With a monthly salary of tens of thousands, he is often regarded as a thief, and can find 5 cats a day at most...

　　A self-report of "professional pets": I am looking for a bond

　　"At 3 a.m., the cat at home opened the door by itself, and the other tabby cat went silly and slipped out. We posted the cat hunting notice and contacted the professional cat hunting team. It only took 2 to find the cat. Less than hours..."

　　On February 22, a well-known digital blogger described a "special cat-seeking experience" between himself and his roommate on Weibo. The emerging profession of "professional pets" also jumped into the eyes of more people.

　　The Chengdu Commercial Daily-Red Star News reporter contacted Zhang Zhanfei, a "professional pet". He once found cats for the popular star Yang Chaoyue. On average, he can find more than a dozen cats and dogs a month, and he has found 5 cats in one day.

　　Now that he has been in the industry for 3 years, this "post-90s" said that he has seen tears of joy and tears of complete despair while looking for a cat.

Every time he finds a cat, the sense of accomplishment he can't find in other occupations.

　　However, in Zhang Zhanfei's view, the current "professional pets" circle is uneven, with a charge ranging from several thousand yuan to over ten thousand yuan. There are many irregular teams.

Some teams may use high-end equipment as a highlight to attract customers, but do not look for them seriously.

"The most advanced equipment is only an aid. What is more necessary is to carefully analyze the traces and walking paths left by the pet."

　　The following is Zhang Zhanfei's narrative:

Enter

　　Vision 5.4, height 1.82 meters

　　Known as "Mori Kogoro"

　　After I came to Shanghai in 2019, the first job I found was to find a cat. Since then, I have joined the emerging industry of "professional pets".

At that time, there were only a few pet-finding companies in Shanghai, and most of the customer orders were for cats, followed by dogs, so we usually call us "professional cat-seekers".

　　I grew up raising a dog and later a cat. I have learned about this profession before.

At that time, I chose one of the two for the interview, and finally I successfully applied.

Their application criteria are mainly eyesight. In general, the eyesight of cat hunters should be between 5.3 and 5.4. At the same time, cat hunters must love animals. People who do not love animals cannot find lost pets.

In addition, there are advantages to being taller and smaller.

I am 1.82 meters tall and I am taller for chasing pets over walls, while being petite is for getting into small places.

　　I am mainly responsible for finding cats.

Cats have a very small range of movement. They have territorial awareness. Most of them move within 50 meters. If I throw my cat into the corridor, it will move within the upper and lower floors of the building for a few hours.

The stray cat in the community usually sees it here today, and it will be in the same place tomorrow.

Unless someone is chased by a dog or chased in a straight line, a cat can't run beyond one kilometer in diameter under normal circumstances.

　　Finding a cat requires a certain amount of talent and spirituality.

After I find the first cat, I can roughly determine where the second cat is.

Every time you look for a cat, you need to survey carefully, looking for the traces it left behind: cat hair, paw prints, and even feces.

Some feces will leave cat hair, you can pull out the hair to take a look.

Customers often say that we are like detectives and sometimes call me "Mori Kogoro".

　　Professional pets need to slowly explore the habits of small animals, but also understand the characteristics of small animals.

Now is the peak business season for professional cat hunters. Cats are especially prone to get lost during the peak period of two estrus in a year-spring and autumn.

The lost breed cat likes to get stuck in the corner, while the pastoral cat likes to hide in the grass.

　　Be patient after you find the cat and don't chase the cat.

A customer’s cat had been lost for more than a month. They had found the cat themselves before, but the cat was very afraid of others because it was chased by the owner.

We discovered it this time and walked slowly behind it for more than an hour to lock its range and territory and place a cat trap where it is most likely to appear.

It's like fishing. If you pull it forcibly, the fishing line will break.

　Secret

　　Careful reasoning

　　I have seen many tears of joy or despair

　　The cat that went viral on Weibo these days has been missing for two or three days. The owner has posted a lot of cat hunting notices in the community, but there has been no response.

　　After I found us, I first learned about the lost cat with the owner, because the cat’s personality determines how far it will run.

The client described her cat as very courageous. I noticed that there are a lot of stray cats downstairs. Such timid cats are prone to stress reactions when they go downstairs. The basement of that building is deserted. Domestic cats don’t like that kind of special Humid and musty places.

So the cat is unlikely to go downstairs.

　　I climbed from the 1st floor to the 4th floor of their building. I saw the cat's paw prints and hair. I checked it with the customer's house. It was different from the cat's hair in front of the customer's house.

The client’s cat is a tabby cat, a bit like a tortoiseshell cat, and the hair I found on the 4th floor is orange cat hair, and the paw prints of domestic cats and stray cats are different, and domestic cats are generally larger.

In this way, it can be determined that the lost cat did not go down and should have never left the building.

　　The client's house lives on the 12th floor. She speculated that the cat opened the door and went out by herself. We went to the scene and found that there were a lot of cat hairs at the door, which should have left through the door.

There are also traces of cats in a cupboard in the stairwell on the 13th floor. Cats like to slip and walk. They generally don't walk in the middle of the road openly.

　　Looking up along the traces, there were traces of cats on the 17th floor. I found a lot of cat paw prints and cat hair on the 18th floor. I called the customer and told her that the paw prints were new.

There are 4 doors on the 18th floor, only two of them are open. One leads to the computer room, which is too humid for cats; the other is an indoor rooftop pipe well, where it happens to be jammed, exactly the same color as the customer’s cat. It is a cat's paw print, and it is basically determined that the cat is inside.

　　The pipe well was very small and smelly, and there was a lot of feces in it. I could have placed a cat trap outside and wait for the cats to come out, but I saw that the client was very anxious, so he took off his jacket and went in. It stayed for more than an hour and finally used it. The cat bag caught the cat.

　　In fact, in the past three years, we have seen tears of joy and tears of complete despair in the process of looking for cats.

I went to Guangxi to look for a cat. The boss let us take a train for a day and night to save money. When we found the cat, we found that it had been crushed to death. The body smelled so bad that the customer cried and threw up.

I thought at the time that if we could arrive one day early, we might be able to save this life, which is a pity.

　　Later, if I need to travel to find a cat, I hope I can reach the place as soon as possible.

Every time I find a cat, it will give us a kind of psychological reward, that kind of very direct sense of accomplishment, which I can't find in other professions.

　normal

　　Often regarded as a thief

　　Encountered police a dozen times

　　In these 3 years, my highest record is to find 5 cats in one day.

　　I once helped Yang Chaoyue find the cat and helped them locate the cat's approximate location.

The cat ended up in the yard of someone else’s villa, and we couldn’t find it. Finally, the owner found the cat and returned it to Yang Chaoyue.

　　The cats in the villa area may sneak away in stranger ways. For example, some will climb windows or slide down the pipes of the house, and some will turn up the roof and slide down the tiles. This cat is found at home after being lost. It is more likely.

Often, cats can get in places where people can't reach, or even places where they can't reach their hands.

　　Sometimes we need to climb over the wall or use a flashlight in the yard during the day to look for clues, so we are often considered to be thieves. Some old aunts will ask us what we are doing, and those with a strong sense of prevention will directly call the police.

I have been a "professional pet" for 3 years. I have met a dozen times when the neighbors of my clients directly called the police. When the police came, we couldn't laugh or cry. We could only show them the business license, and the clients would help us clarify our misunderstanding.

　　Playing a flashlight during the day is also the particularity of this profession.

Because you are good at seeing dust on the ground, you will see another very tiny world.

　　Some people say that we are envious of our profession, but we have the smell of cat urine all the year round, and we have to search for all kinds of sundries. We walk on a path that others will not.

Some orders are received in the early morning, so we can only stay up late to find them.

　　To do this is not only to fight the cat, but also to distinguish between the truth and the false through the details.

　　The first cat I found in my career was a fold-eared short cat. I ran away in my self-built house in the countryside and ran to my neighbor's house.

At first, the neighbor said that the cat did enter his house but ran out.

So, our other team members left the neighbor's house to look outside.

But I have a feeling that the cat is at the neighbor’s house, because I saw cat paw prints and cat hair in their utility room, and the cat was only lost for a few hours. According to the cat’s habits, It can't run far.

　　I told the neighbor if we could look for it carefully, and after finding it, the customer would send him a thank you fee. After a long time he agreed to enter, and found the cat in the corner of the utility room.

We guessed that the neighbor probably lied, and he might want to keep the cat.

　　Everyone says that cats are hard to find, but in my opinion, dogs are even harder to find.

First, they have a large range of activities. Sometimes, it is normal for us to run 20 to 30 kilometers a day to find dogs.

The second dog is not afraid of people, and the ones that cannot be found are likely to be taken away by others, and need to be called for monitoring and manual investigation.

If your pet is unfortunately lost, the sooner you can look for it, the better. The golden period for searching is three days.

　industry

　　Currently more "profiteering"

　　Customers are becoming more and more popular

　　I left the previous team in October last year and set up my own small team.

There are currently 6 people in the team, and everyone is the "post-90s" who like small animals. The youngest is only 20 years old.

　　According to my observation, there are now seven or eight such teams in Shanghai.

To be honest, this industry is more profitable, with many informal teams.

The asking price for finding pets in the industry ranges from a few thousand yuan to tens of thousands of yuan. Some teams may use their high-end equipment as a highlight to attract customers, but they don’t look for the equipment seriously, just play.

Some organizations require customers to pay 8,000 yuan. In fact, the cat was sent back by the neighbors. In the end, the customer complained to the media angrily.

　　We belong to the service industry. In the final analysis, helping customers solve their problems is the root. When customers recover from the anxiety of missing cats, they will know whether the cat hunter has carefully searched for it.

In my opinion, the most advanced equipment is only an aid-drones cannot fly in cities, and the distance of life detectors is limited. What is more necessary is to carefully analyze details, such as the walking paths of small animals.

I think that standing up and developing in this industry still depends on word of mouth.

　　The biggest feeling in these three years is that customers are becoming more and more popular.

In the past, only rich bosses would pay for professional teams to find cats and dogs. Now even renters and college students come to us.

　　Because pets are a kind of fetters, there are too many people working outside alone, and they tend to be lonely mentally. Cats and dogs are the closest partners.

Everyone is also increasingly convinced that the industry of "finding pets" has certain professional capabilities.

We also recommend to wear positioning collars and ID cards for free-range cats and dogs, in case they are lost, it is helpful to find them.

　　Chengdu Commercial Daily-Red Star News reporter Guo Yimeng Lan Jing