Study Buddy (Explorer): China’s pet detectives rescue lost dogs and cats – the rise of new niche profession

[2] Pet detective Yan Zhiyon is from Zhengzhou in central China’s Henan province. After receiving an order, Yan said he would go to the site with one to two colleagues. They would bring headlamps, torches, night vision goggles, nets and cages to help catch the missing pets. Usually, the team is looking for cats and dogs.

[3] One time, Yan received a call from a family who had lost their pet cat. They lived on the seventh floor of a residential building. Yan said that the first thing his team needed to do when arriving at the flat was to figure out if the cat had run away or was still hiding somewhere inside the building.

[4] “According to traces left by the cat, such as footprints in the corridor and hair left in corners, we guessed that it could be somewhere between the seventh and 11th floors,” Yan explained. “At last, it was found on the eighth floor.”

[5] In another case, Yan’s team found a three-month-old cat trapped in a ventilation area. They rescued it by sending a detective into the ventilation area. To reach the cat, the detective tied ropes around his waist and crawled through two holes. “The process of looking for pets is interesting. It’s like being a normal detective, and you need to pay attention to many details that are usually overlooked,” Yan said.

[6] Wu Lilei owns a pet detective agency in Beijing. In the past four years, his team has searched for and found 5,000 pets in cities across China like Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan. “For pets of different species or ages, our direction when searching is also different,” Wu said. “The work relies on a detective’s experience, but what’s more important is to be familiar with an animal’s habits and characteristics.”

[7] Wu said they would only charge a “basic service fee” if they could not find a lost pet. “In many cases, the price of searching for and rescuing pets is far higher than that of buying one. Clients who regard their pet animals as members of their family value the bond with their ‘fur children’,” Wu said.

[8] According to a report by the China Agricultural Publishing House, an estimated 117 million pet animals were kept in urban areas in mainland China at the end of 2022 – this was a 4 per cent increase from the previous year.
Source: South China Morning Post, June 6

1. What does the “profession” in paragraph 1 refer to?

2. According to paragraph 2, what does Yan take with him when he looks for lost pets?
A. their favourite snacks
B. the animal’s photograph
C. night vision goggles
D. ropes and fishnets

3. Decide whether the following statements are True, False or the information is Not Given in paragraphs 3 and 4. Fill in ONE circle only for each statement. (4 marks)
(i) Yan and his team had to look for a missing female cat.
(ii) They managed to find the cat.
(iii) The animal was hiding in another building.
(iv) This was not the first time the animal was reported as being lost.

4. What do the “traces” in paragraph 4 refer to? (2 marks)

5. Why did the cat mentioned in paragraph 5 need to be rescued?

6. According to Wu in paragraph 6, what does a pet detective need to be good at?

7. Find a word in paragraph 6 that refers to where an animal lives.

8. In paragraph 7, why would people spend money searching for their lost pets instead of buying a replacement animal?

9. How many animals are kept as pets in China in 2023?
A. 113 million
B. 117 million
C. 121 million
D. information not given

1. pet detective
2. C
3. (i) NG; (ii) T; (iii) F; (iv) NG
4. the cat’s footprints and hair
5. It was trapped in a ventilation area.
6. They need to be familiar with an animal’s habits and characteristics.
7. habitat
8. because they regard the pet animals as members of their family
9. D