At the opening of the business, the Shanghai Pentagon “Super Birds' Bureau” used 8000 m2 space to become the industry pole, with an amphipo district, a pet hospital and an interactive playground with a daily average traffic of over 1,000 people. However, six months later, the country's pet park was suddenly in crisis, owing to the non-payment of rent to the store and the suppliers. In recent days, netizens have found more than 30 puppet cats in the shop crumbling into glass cabinets, drying up water bowls and falling into the ground.
In the face of pressure from public opinion, the employees spontaneously formed “temporary rescue teams”. The manager of the shop was able to keep up for 48 hours, coordinating 23 cooperative cathouses across the country to receive animals and even to pay the freight charges from his own pocket. “The last two Maine cats, which I sent out in the trunk of a private car, were rubbing my hand in the car, as if they knew to leave the familiar environment.” He recalled that when journalists visited, there were only a few cat hairballs and unopened pet toys in the shop, and staff were flushing the floor with high-pressure water guns in an attempt to wash the traces of the wind.
The incident exposed the deep-seated problem of the pet industry: the blind expansion led to the breakdown of the financial chain and the lack of industry standards led to the disruption of aftercare. As the Secretary-General of the Shanghai Association of Pets Industries has said: “When pet doors become a means of flow for commercial property, animal welfare is often sacrificed”.