"Lawrence Watt-Evans - In for Pound" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watt-Evans Lawrence)

"He hasn't got a tag," the uniformed man said.



"We hadn't got around to it yet."



"Well, you can't let him run loose with no tag, lady. Eltonburg's got a twenty-four-hour leash law."



"I know, I know, I'm sorryтАФwe've just been so busy . . ."
"The law's the law, lady. You want him back, you can come down to the pound and claim him, first thing
in the morning. And bring your checkbook."



"In the morning?" A vision of Dave waking up naked in a cage at the pound appeared before her. "Can't
I have him back now? I . . . I don't feel safe without him watching the house!"



The man shook his head. "Sorry, lady. We got rulesтАФwe find a dog running loose with no ID, we take it
to the pound. No exceptions. Look, it's just one night."



"But . . ." She stared at Dave, who stared back at her with frightened yellow wolf-eyes.



The other man slammed the van door. "No exceptions," he said.



The first man said, a bit more kindly, "Look, lady, we used to cut folks some slack on this, but we just
got tired of people who let their dogs run around wild, and promised every time oh yeah, we'll be down
first thing tomorrow and get a license, we'll put a collar on him right away . . . and then nothing, and two
or three days later we'd pick up the same dog chasing someone's cat up a tree, or digging in someone's
lawn, still with no tag. So now we have to be tough about itтАФsome people ruined it for the rest of us,
y'know?"



"I know, but . . ."