The joy of life where cats and dogs are reigning

I grew up in a large army garrison in the mountains, and no one kept pets there. The army had a pack of more than 20 wolf hounds, and as kids we never dared mess with them.

Pigs were fed in the garrison and chickens were raised in a coop in front of the apartment building where my family lived. Every family was allocated a vegetable plot of about 10 square meters, and each built their own chicken coop. My family had a dozen chickens, and for several years it was my job to feed them.

Animals were everywhere. In fact it was common to see snake skin on the roads, the remains of vipers that lived in the forest and that had decided to make one crossing too many and were obliterated by passing traffic. We would sometimes pick up the skins that had dried out in the sun and send them to the army hospital, having been told that they were an important ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine.