I can dream about my own death.

Thus, reporter Li Yucheng, photographer Wang Feng, and tip provider Chen Wensheng formed an interview and investigation team.

The three of them first went to the nearby streets and found many stray cats and dogs, and even found several cat and dog corpses frozen stiff by the snow.

Looking at this unusual phenomenon, Li Yucheng frowned and asked, "Why are there so many stray cats and dogs in our Changfeng City?"

"It must have been transported from another place," Chen Wensheng replied.

"Why are so many stray cats and dogs being transported to our Changfeng city from other places?" Li Yucheng was even more puzzled.

At this moment, two small trucks loaded with a large number of iron cages stopped in a parking space not far away.

A cacophony of cat and dog barking erupted, and the three looked in the direction of the sound to find a large number of cats and dogs inside iron cages.

Li Yucheng immediately ran to the small truck loaded with cats and dogs, grabbed a microphone, and interviewed the truck owner who was unloading the cages: "Excuse me, what are you doing unloading these cats and dogs?"

"Release these stray cats and dogs," the truck owner said as he opened the door of the iron cage.

Li Yucheng immediately advised, "I think most of these stray cats and dogs are abandoned pets with no ability to survive in the wild. They won't survive if released in the dead of winter, so let's not release them."

"My job is simply to transport these stray cats and dogs to Changfeng City and then release them back into the wild. I charge 30 yuan per animal for transportation, and I can transport more than 100 stray cats and dogs in one trip. I earn the transportation fee and don't care whether the animals live or die after they are released."

The truck driver talked as he worked, opening the iron cage doors one after another, and the cats and dogs darted out and escaped one after another.

Chen Wensheng advised, "Many of these stray cats and dogs have not been vaccinated against rabies and may carry the rabies virus. They cannot be released into the wild."

"Don't try to fool me. Before I came here, the cargo owner told me that it's okay to release stray cats and dogs into the wild in Changfeng City. What I did didn't violate any laws or regulations, and no one has the right to stop me," the truck owner said.

"That cargo owner seems to have a pretty thorough understanding of the local regulations in Changfeng City," Chen Wensheng remarked.

While getting vaccinated at the hospital, Chen Wensheng made a special trip to check the relevant laws and regulations.

The animal protection organization in Changfeng City held a seminar with relevant departments and ultimately formulated and issued a bunch of brain-dead local regulations.

This includes, but is not limited to, not harming stray cats or dogs, and not eating pets such as cats and dogs.

Violating the relevant regulations will result in a severe fine.

As soon as these local regulations were implemented, Changfeng City descended into chaos, with outrageous incidents occurring such as a large number of stray cats and dogs from other areas being transported into the city and then released back into the wild.

Li Yucheng looked at Chen Wensheng, utterly puzzled, and asked, "Is releasing animals legal and reasonable?"

"It wasn't allowed before, but recently, the policies and regulations regarding animal protection changed, and now it's permitted to release large numbers of animals like this," Chen Wensheng shrugged and replied with a helpless expression.

The three had no choice but to leave.

Soon after, the three found a golden retriever on the street that was drooling and extremely agitated.

Chen Wensheng immediately realized something was wrong and said, "This golden retriever is not behaving properly. Golden retrievers are usually docile pets, and even if they are abandoned, they wouldn't be this agitated. Looking at the thick drool it's drooling, it seems to have rabies."

"This is definitely not normal," photographer Wang Feng added.

Chen Wensheng looked around and spotted a convenience store about ten meters away. He said, "Wait a minute, I'm going to buy a bottle of mineral water."

Two minutes later, Chen Wensheng returned with a bottle of mineral water in his hand.

He unscrewed the cap of the mineral water bottle, walked up to the golden retriever, and poured some water near its mouth.

Then, the golden retriever started struggling frantically, backing away repeatedly, clearly terrified of touching the water.

"Hydrophobia?" Chen Wensheng's expression immediately turned extremely serious. "Rabies is also known as hydrophobia. Animals with this disease are extremely afraid of water, and they will even feel extremely resistant and distressed when they see water or hear the sound of water. This golden retriever should really have rabies."

Chen Wensheng poured out all the mineral water, then collected the saliva that had dripped from the Golden Retriever's mouth into the mineral water bottle, and said, "Take this bottle of Golden Retriever's saliva to a professional institution for testing to see if it contains the rabies virus."

"Okay!" Li Yucheng immediately contacted the relevant authorities.

Because Li Yucheng was a well-known reporter in Changfeng City, the relevant authorities gave him face and granted his request.

The three went to a testing agency to have the golden retriever's saliva tested, and the test results showed that the saliva contained the rabies virus.

The staff at the testing agency immediately reported this information to the higher-level epidemic prevention department.

Upon hearing the word "rabies," the higher-level epidemic prevention department immediately realized what was happening and implemented a series of targeted measures.

Because rabies is a highly contagious disease with a mortality rate approaching 100%, any animal or human infected with it is almost certain to die.

Changfeng City had not seen any cases of rabies for many years, but it suddenly reappeared this year.

After four or five hours of investigation, the epidemic prevention department found that the situation was much more serious than they had imagined.

In Changfeng City, the number of stray cats and dogs far exceeds expectations; they can be seen almost every hundred meters or so.

The large number of stray cats and dogs greatly increases the probability of rabies transmission.

The epidemic prevention department immediately abolished the regulations that had been formulated not long ago to protect stray cats and dogs.

In addition, a large number of people were mobilized to capture stray cats and dogs.

They also temporarily mobilized a large number of staff from other departments to assist in the harmless handling of stray cats and dogs.

749 Media gave a detailed report on the incident, and the rabies case spread throughout Changfeng City.

......

In the following days, several more cases of rabies infection were reported.

The terrifying mortality rate of rabies caused widespread panic throughout the city.

The relevant departments held several meetings and finally reached a conclusion: temporary control measures would be implemented. During the control period, all efforts would be made to capture stray cats and dogs, and to conduct detailed registration and inspection of domestic pets.

Before the city was locked down, Chen Wensheng went to the market to buy a large amount of vegetables and meat.

He originally intended to buy two fish from Lao Zhou's fish stall, freeze them, and save them for the next few days.

Old Zhou, who is never absent from business, actually closed his shop today.

This made Chen Wensheng feel a little uncomfortable, as he had gotten used to buying fish from Lao Zhou.

Chen Wensheng asked the fish stall owner next door, "Why isn't Old Zhou's fish stall open?"

"Old Zhou, his fish stall has been closed for three days. Someone as hardworking as him never closes his stall for three days even during the Lunar New Year. I'm quite puzzled by his sudden closure." The fish stall owner next door looked puzzled.

"Alright! Boss, give me a tilapia that weighs about one and a half pounds."

Chen Wensheng casually bought a fish, then carried a bunch of things home.