Zeri was in an alleyway, sat on a small staircase in front of some door. She was sipping from a can of coffee and just taking in the silence. Standing next to her was a middle-aged woman, smoking on a cigarette, with her back against a wall. The woman exhaled the smoke, before making a long frustrated sigh and rubbing her forehead in annoyance.
“Fuckin’ Shit Rats” the woman muttered angrily.
Zeri could not help but smirk, nodding in agreement, as the woman took another smoke and made another long, frustrated sigh.
“I swear. This whole fucking system is rigged. Happy Fluffy Hugbox Shelter fund?! More like raise these Fluffies for me because I’m a lazy ass mother fucking Fluffy fucker with more money than sense. Just throw a bunch of money and think that the problem solves itself!? Plus all those fucking conditions. No kill rule with mandatory time in communal play pen, all while dealing with a 5% adoption rate and minimum wage staff. This whole fund is such fucking bullshit that they might as well shove a dildo up my ass, because at least I get something from being fucked so hard up the ass!”
The woman took another smoke, then flicked the cigarette angrily onto the ground, before stomping on it with her boot with force. Zeri looked at the woman with sympathy. It was the only thing Zeri could offer. This woman was Ariella Orisa and despite her mannerisms, she was actually a Hugboxer and owner of Entepott Fluffy shelter, a small Fluffy Hugbox shelter, or rather ex-Hugbox, as they had just lost their title, and with it almost all their funding.
“Fucking Mayer or whatever his stupid bitch ass name is. Lazy, delusional, ugly fat ass. Oh No AwIeLLA I tHoUghT Entepott wAS a HUgBox sHELter, wHY ArE yOU RaiSIng enFiE pALs iN OUr BaSTion. We’RE noT fuNDing an ABuse ShELTer. Firstly Awiella?! AWIELLA what are you a Fluffy bitch?! Secondly motherfucking raising enfie pals?! Fucker sees two raped foals and thinks we are running a Fluffy fuck factory!? 40% of my stock are smarty foal fuckers, because NO KILL rule and I’m running this shelter with an overworked, underpaid team, mistakes are gonna happen. One simple mistake of someone accidently putting a Foal Fucker in the communal play pen with some foals and then snap, now I’m suddenly not running a Hugbox shelter, and I’m the abuser!? So me getting out of bed seven in the morning every day in this fucking cold to tend to the needs of those needy mother fuckers means jack shit!? Three meals a day, clean cages for ALL of them, time in the play area, restocking on supplies. I try to keep them ALL happy, even those shitty mother fucking Shit Rats who should just be put down, but nope not good enough. Bunch of rich shits looking from atop their ivory perches and saying no Ariella you are not a hugboxer. Fuckers probably have difficulty raising one Fluffy, I got fucking two hundred and don’t get me started on Bastion and fucking WE’RE funding. We!? WE?! Mayer you stupid fucking shitty fuck, I bet you don’t even make 0.001% of the donations, the only power you have is because you’re a fucking volunteer worker who took on the role of Hugbox fund inspector, I don’t even know why those stupid fuckers actually listen to you!? Seriously, owner does not have good Hugbox personality!?! What does that even mean!? Poor living conditions!? I followed every single one of the god damn conditions!!!”
Ariella spat on the floor in disgust and made a long sigh, signaling that her rant was over. She got another cigarette from the pack in her pocket. She tried to light the cigarette, but was far too angry to do so, frustrating her even more. Zeri got up and grabbed the lighter, helping Ariella light the cigarette, as the woman muttered a soft thanks and took another smoke. Zeri gave her another sympathetic look. This really was sounded bullshit, both the Fluffy Happy Hugbox Shelter Fund and this man named Mayer.
The Happy Fluffy Hugbox Shelter Program, or simply Happy Fluffy Fund, was a donation program run by a group of rich Hugboxers with a strong following. A program that helped hundreds of Hugbox shelters all across the nation. From what Zeri had heard, the Fluffy Happy Hugbox Shelter Fund was pretty much the only reason so many Hugbox Shelters could continue to operates, as the fund covered all deficits and put the shelters on a list that told potential Fluffy owners that they were a legitimate Hugbox shelter, giving this Hugbox shelters a supposed steady stream of potential buyers, but in order to be part of this program, there were a lot of strict conditions. Zeri thought about the ones she could remember.
- No kill rule, applicable to ALL Fluffies
- No Fluffy abuse of any sort
- Fluffies should not be sold to abusers
- All Fluffies must undergo full medical checkup during stay
o Neutering must be performed by licensed practitioner
o Microchip procedure must be performed by licensed practitioner - Good living conditions
o Food and water – three times a day
o Cage must be spacious enough for Fluffy to roam.
o Clean cages
o Decent bedding
o Max two adult Fluffies per cage
o Adequate time allotted for socialization
o Adequate time allotted for playing and exercise - Communal play area
o Must have Fluffy safe toys and accessories
o Adequate amount of toys and accessories
o Large enough space for Fluffies to roam - If a Fluffy needs to be euthanized, needs to be painless
- 1 full time worker for every 40 Fluffies
- Minimum wage salary (Currently: $10,000 per month)
It made sense. A lot of rules for a lot of money. Accordingly to Ariella, Entepott Fluffy Shelter would receive roughly $65,000 to $80,000 a month from the Happy Fluffy fund. Just enough to cover expenses after the government subsidy, so while it all sounded like such a headache, it was necessary for any Hugbox shelter to continue operating. Unfortunately this was no longer the case thanks to one man?
Zeri did not know much about this Mayer guy. He had come to their shelter two weeks ago. Proclaimed himself as an inspector for the Happy Fluffy Hugbox Shelter Program. He had no means to verify this, said he left his official documentation at home, but he came off as arrogant, rude and crazy. Definitely crazy. He referred to Fluffy shelters, as his bastions that protected Fluffies from the vile corruption of Human society. So they ignored him and let him roam around, as he didn’t seem like a danger to the Fluffies, plus everyone was busy. Then he saw the conditions and got into an argument with Ariella, before running off and saying that Entepott was no longer eligible for funding.
He really came off as a nutcase, so no one really took him seriously. It was certainly shocking when Ariella got a notification from the Happy Fluffy Hugbox Shelter Program that Entepott Fluffy Shelter was no longer deemed a Hugbox shelter and ineligible of funding thanks to their inspector Mayer. Ariella naturally tried to protest, but was left with a simple message that they would review the case in six months, as though a shelter could last that long without their donations.
It really did feel strange that such a nutjob held such power, especially with so much money in the line, but then again, Zeri wasn’t a Hugboxer, so just the idea of a Hugbox shelter was already quite strange, especially when she realized that they were never designed to last without donations.
$100 that was the average price of a Fluffy at any official Hasbio store.
To sell a Fluffy at a shelter required one to sell the Fluffy at a lower price than $100 or need proper justification for selling above this $100 mark.
$75 was the price required for full medical checkup of a Fluffy including government mandate neutering and microchip installation. This was a special deal that Entepott made with a local Fluffy clinic also under the Happy Fluffy Hugbox Shelter Progam.
Entepott sold Fluffies at $75 just to make up the cost for full medical checkup.
Meanwhile, most abuse shelters sold Fluffies around the $10 to $15 price range, which was lower than even purchasing from foal-in-can vending machines at $20. They could do this because they did manual neutering, no microchip installation and government subsidy worked on a quota system, where shelters that could take in more feral Fluffies would get higher subsidy, and Fluffies in abuser shelters often sold quickly like hot cakes.
Hugbox shelters under the Happy Fluffy fund could not do that. One condition was Fluffies were not to be sold to abusers. Of course, there was no legitimate way of determining if someone was a Hugbox or an abuser, but high pricing often acted as a deterrent. Why buy a Fluffy at a Hugbox shelter for $80 or more, when you could buy one for much cheaper at an abuse shelter or foal-in-can vending machine.
So Hugbox shelters had to sell Fluffies under $100 yet not too low that they would be considered an abuse shelter, plus they had to pay for mandatory checkup, so there was no perfect number. Fluffies in Hugbox shelters would often be sold at a loss, because even if it made for up medical checkup, it did not cover costs such as food and stay at the shelter. Abuse shelters countered that with subpar living conditions and immediate termination of Fluffies after mandatory two weeks stay.
So basically, Hugbox shelters were designed to be completely dependent on the Happy Fluffy Hugbox Shelter program and for that Zeri really didn’t understand the point. Such a flawed system and a waste of money, but she knew she didn’t really have much of say on that given how frivolous her own spending was, as mind boggling as this whole system felt.
“God” Ariella suddenly groaned “This situation is so fucked. I honestly swear someone is trying to make me switch camps, some nutjob Hugboxers cuts almost all the shelter funding and my best employee is some rich bitch Fluffy killer”.
“Wait am I the rich bitch?” Zeri asked with a grin.
Ariella smirked and playfully punches Zeri’s arm, making a small laugh. A sort of desperate attempt to lighten the mood somehow, but it was clear that this matter still hung heavy on Ariella’s mind. Zeri remained quiet, taking another sip of her coffee can, as Ariella looked at a wall deep in thought.
“So what now?” Zeri asked.
“I… well… I don’t know” Ariella replied with a serious look.
“Are you gonna close?”
“I don’t want to, but it doesn’t seem like I have a choice”
Zeri was silent, but she realized that there was an option she could provide.
“I… uh… I could donate to your shelter”
Ariella raised an eyebrow and seemed tempted by this offer, but she remained silent for a good few seconds, before suddenly shaking her head.
“No” Ariella responded in a soft yet firm tone.
“Huh, but what are you gonna do?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll think of something”.
Zeri looked at Ariella in confusion, as Ariella looked out deep in thought, then she suddenly slapped both of her cheeks lightly.
“Okay I’m done being sorry for myself” Ariella announced “I’m going inside to talk to the troops. You can stay out here for a while longer if you want”.
Zeri shrugged and finished her coffee “Nah. I’m done with my break, boss”
Ariella grinned slightly “I’m going to miss you calling me boss”.
Zeri grinned and followed Ariella as they walked up the short stairs and through the door. Past a short, empty hallway and then the reception area where the rest of the staff had been chatting amongst each other. Zeri eyed her fellow colleagues. She only had four of them: Mark, Emilia, Harrison and Carrie. All four looked tense. They all knew about the funding cut and all knew that bad news was coming. Ariella stood front and center
“Alright listen up everyone. As well all know, the Happy Fucking Fluffy Hugbox Shelter Program cut our funding and I know everyone is worried, so I’m just going to rip off the band aid. Unfortunately, I have to let all of you go”.
The room was silent. Everyone had already been expecting it.
“What’s going to happen to you, boss?” Mark suddenly asked.
“Is Entepott Fluffy Shelter closing down?” Harrison chimed in.
“What about all the Fluffies?” Emilia asked.
Ariella raised her hand, silencing all the questions and made a sigh. She was silent at first. Looking deep in thought before making another sigh.
“I’ve decided” she announced “Entepott Fluffy Shelter will not be closing down”
There were surprised murmurs. Carrie raised her hand.
“Wait so are we still out of a job?” She asked.
“Where are you gonna get funding?” Harrison asked.
“Unfortunately I can’t afford to keep you all. I’m going to paying for expenses out of my own pocket”.
More surprised murmurs. Zeri raised her hand this time.
“Why boss?” She asked
Ariella shrugged “It’s always been a dream of mine to run a Fluffy shelter. You all know I love Fluffies, not Shit Rats, Fluffies. Sure the Happy Hugbox fund thing might have left me burnt out a bit, but I still have the dream and I wanna try and make a good of it”.
“Wait you’re going to try and run a shelter without the Hugbox fund?!” Mark asked in surprise.
“Are you going to do this alone? Care for all 200 Fluffies and manage the shelter alone?!” Carrie asked.
Ariella nodded slightly, causing more surprised murmurs, and then she raised her hand.
“I know. It sounds dumb, because it is, but I still want to make a go of it. It’s going to be a very difficult, if not impossible challenge, and I’m not going to lie, I will not succeed on my own, BUT I do not expect any of you to stay and help. You have no obligation to me and I cannot pay any of you. You have your own lives to take care of and that comes first. There are no hard feelings if you walk away, and if you decide to stay, know that there probably won’t be any grand reward even if we do succeed, probably a pat on the back from me and a few grateful smiles from the Fluffies. Honestly, if any of you want to stay and help, you are idiots… But I’ll also appreciate it”
More surprised murmurs. Zeri looked at the other four and they all looked at her and each other, and Harrison raised his hand.
“Sorry boss. I don’t think I can stay” he said, shaking his head with shame.
“Me too, boss… Sorry” Mark said with a sympathetic nod.
“Yeah” Carrie said with a sigh “Sorry boss but like you said, I need to look after myself first”.
“No problem” Ariella assured “No hard feelings. Totally understandable. Emilia. Zeri. What about you two? You out or need some time to think about it?”
“I’ll stay” Zeri said with a grin.
There were some shocked murmurs, as everyone looked at Zeri, even Ariella looked shocked.
“Rich bitch remember” Zeri replied.
Ariella smirked, then gave Zeri an appreciative nod.
“I’ll stay” Emilia announced.
More shocked murmurs. Everyone looked at Emilia now, she looked down in embarrassment.
“Emilia. I can’t pay you” Ariella reminded.
“I know” Emilia replied “But I think I can work here for a month or two and see how it works out”.
Ariella gave Emilia an appreciative nod.
“Okay okay. Harrison, Mark, Carrie. You three come with me to my office. We will handle paperwork and severance. Zeri. Emilia. You two wait here”.
Zeri nodded and watched as Ariella headed to her office with the trio, then turned her attention to Emilia. The young woman had sat down and was on her phone. Zeri sat next to her silently, curious as to why she had decided to stay, yet continued to remain silent.
“Why did you decide to stay?” Emilia suddenly asked
Zeri shrugged. She wasn’t really sure herself.
“I dunno” Zeri replied casually “Bored, maybe? I kind of want to see where this all leads”
Emilia eyed her suspiciously “If you are doing this to fuck with the Fluffies, you better quit. It’s going to end up hurting Ariella in…”
“I fuck with Fluffies. NOT people” Zeri snapped “I’m not going to fuck with those shit rats if it ends up making more trouble for boss”.
Emilia seemed surprised by this, growing silent as she looked down in shame.
“Sorry” Emilia muttered softly “Didn’t mean to sound so rude”
“No issue” Zeri replied, with a carefree shrug.
An awkward silence pervaded the air. Both girls sat next to each other yet unable to say a word, though Zeri remained curious about Emilia.
“So… why did you decide to stay?” Zeri asked Emilia.
Emilia looked away “I have my reasons” she replied vaguely.
Zeri raised an eyebrow, curious as to what that was supposed to mean, but shrugged. If Emilia didn’t want to give a straight answer, she did not have to and Zeri was not going to push. The two remained silent for the remainder of the time, the quiet interrupted as Ariella came out of her office with the Mark, Carrie and Harrison, watching as the three walked to the front door. Suddenly all three stopped.
Harrison stepped forward and saluted.
“Good luck, boss!” He said to Ariella.
Then he looked at Zeri and Emilia “Good luck you two” he announced.
“I hope you succeed” Mark added.
“Yeah. Really. Good luck” Carrie said.
“Thank you” Emilia said softly.
Zeri gave them all a thumbs up.
“All right all right enough mushy goodbyes” Ariella said with a grin “Get out of here you three, but feel free to pop by just for a visit… If we’re still running by then”.
More goodbyes and the three left, leaving only Zeri, Ariella and Emilia. Ariella turned to the two of them and made a short, frustrated sigh.
“Ze. Emi. You two are idiots for staying… But thank you very much. Really. I can’t thank you enough, and… well it’s so shit that I cannot give you anything more than my thanks”.
“Its fine, Ella” Emilia responded.
“My donation offer is still on the table y’know” Zeri replied.
Ariella smirked, then shook her head.
“I don’t want to call you Miss Lucuques”
Zeri grinned “You know I won’t make you do that boss, and no conditions either… well maybe just some to play with”.
Ariella shook her head and grinned “No. I thought about it. I want to try and make this work without donations. I… well let’s see if I can just make this work with hard work, some creative thinking and the money from the government subsidy. Come on you two. Follow me to my office”.
Zeri grinned slightly. She liked that. She really liked that. How unafraid Ariella was to go against the norm. It was one of the reasons she started working here. She got up and followed Ariella and Emilia, walking pass the reception desk and into Ariella’s office.
Ariella’s office was small and humble. Somewhat messy, but clearly there was some sense of order. She told the two to sit, as she started looking for something on one of her shelves. She produced a book and started reading through it. Zeri gave it a glance. It was filled with numbers. She watched as Ariella produced a calculator from one of the drawers and started tapping on it, while writing on a blank sheet of paper in silence for a good few minutes. Zeri and Emilia remained quiet.
“Okay, come drag those chairs over here” Ariella ordered “I need your help to brainstorm”
Ariella started with the basic information. Entepott Fluffy shelter was eligible for the basic government subsidy fund, which ran at $10,000 a month. More if they were able to beat quota.
This helped cover rent and utilities, which was usually $6,000 to $7,000 a month, granting an excess of $3,000 to $4,000, which was just enough to cover the cost of cleaning supplies, such as bleach and litter change. There were various miscellaneous costs, such as replacement of bedding and toys, but those were low on the priority given the current situation of the Fluffy shelter. Food was their current biggest problem.
Ariella broke down the situation.
The bought 25 kg bags from their distributor.
They fed adult Fluffies 100g per meal
Foals only required 50g per meal
Fluffy breakdown was 113 adult and 87 foals = 11,300 + 4,350 = 15,650 g = 15.65 kg for the entire shelter per meal
3 meals a day = 46.95 kg
For a 30 day period = 1,408.5 kg = 1,408.5 / 25 = 56.34, so 57 bags
Their distributor sold 25 kg bags at $100 each, but they had a special deal of 30 bags at $2,100 total.
So food currently ran at $4,200 per month.
“How many bags do we currently have in stock?” Emilia asked.
Ariella looked at a small note pad.
“21 bags” she replied “So that would last us… roughly 11 days”.
“But that’s providing that we feed them three times a day” Zeri highlighted
“Are you saying we only feed them twice a day?!” Emilia asked in horror
“I was actually thinking once a day”
“We’re not an abuse shelter!”
“Huh? How is this abuse? We are prolonging supplies to give us more time. Better to feed them less, then have not be able to feed them at all, right?”
Emilia looked stunned, but remained silent, as she had no counter. Meanwhile Ariella looked deep in thought.
“33 days” Ariella muttered.
She started writing some more
25 x 30 = 750 / 15.65 = 47.92, so their deal with the distributor lasted roughly 48 days. That would cut costs of food from $4,200 a month to $2,100 for every month and a half or rather instead of $12,600 every three months it was now $4,200. A significant reduction.
“Emilia. You’re better at this. What are the demerits of reducing feed to once a day?” Ariella asked
Emilia was silent at first, deep in thought. Then nodded.
“For adult Fluffies. Reduction in health quality. More susceptible to disease. Negative psychological effects. Higher chance of depression or rather Wan Die loop. For foals, it would reduce development and growth, higher chance of the foal ending up a runt and similar psychological effects. As a shelter it would make it harder for us to sell as well, as no one really wants to buy a sickly, sad Fluffy unless for abuse”.
Zeri whistle in amazment. She liked how quickly Emilia was able to answer, but she was more excited at the idea of an entire shelter filled with miserable Fluffies begging for food. The sadism one could enjoy making a Fluffy beg for kibbles, but Zeri had a thought.
“Why don’t we sell to abusers?” Zeri asked
Emilia looked horrified “I just said we aren’t an abuse shelter. Why would we sell to abusers?”
“Eh, but abuse shelters are able to survive with just government funding thanks to abusers. Plenty of people want to buy low cost Fluffies for some quick fun. High demand for cheap Fluffies and Entepott already lost Hugbox status, so might as well go abuse route, right?”
Emilia looked stunned. Horrified yet unable to say anything. Ariella just smirked in amusement
“Okay slow down Skarlet. Just because we lost our Hugbox status doesn’t mean we automatically turn to the dark side. Even if those rich shit Hugboxers don’t think I’m running a Hugbox shelter, doesn’t mean I don’t want to try at least… and even if I was to go abuse route, it’s not some magical word that would automatically fix the situation. There are plenty of abuse shelters in the city, abusers won’t just start magically appearing just because I declared us an abuse shelter”.
Zeri shrugged “I guess… wait why do we even need to keep our bad stock? No more conditions! No more no kill rule!”
Ariella’s eyes opened wide and a small grin escaped her lips, and Zeri even noticed that Emilia had no opposition. That was just how bad the Shit Rats were in Entepott.
“Let’s clean house first” Ariella announced “Stock take”.
Ariella, Zeri and Emilia entered the housing area. A long room filled with glass cages. 100 cages to be exact. 50 on either side. 25 top. 25 bottom. The smell of Fluffies. Damp fur. Waste. The noise. Fluffies beginning for attention. Demanding to be let free. Asking for love and hugs. The sight of angry Shit Rats and sad Fluffies behind the glass walls. All three women navigated the area with ease. It was easy to block out such distractions after working here for a while.
Zeri had to wonder how long she had been working here. At least three months already. Quite a long time actually. It was actually amusing this area, because she had been to a couple of them before, and it really didn’t matter if it was an Abuse shelter or Hugbox, this area would always be the same. The smell. The sounds. The sights. It was always the same, but one thing that made Entepott Fluffy Shelter interesting was the way Ariella organized everything.
As per the Happy Fluffy fund conditions. A maximum of 2 adult Fluffies per box. Foals did not apply, and could stay with their mummah until they grew up fully. Ariella had already accounted for that. 34 cages only housing a single adult Fluffy, with 87 space reserves for the foals. 13 cages with two adult Fluffies. Bad stocks kept together. A similar system applied to foals, with good behavior foals removed from bad stock mare and placed under the care of a good stock mare, whilst vice versa for bad behavior foals.
Bad stock Fluffies. That was an interesting term. Zeri heard it thrown here and there in other shelters and the definition differed. Most of the time it was for Fluffies that had certain colors, but for Entepott it was more to do with attitude. Arrogant Smartys, Bitch Mares, Hell gremlins, Foal Fuckers, Entitled Runaways, Bestest babbehs and similar such attitudes. Any Fluffy that would cause a Hugboxer more trouble than worth was deemed a bad stock Fluffy by Ariella.
Ariella inspected every cage. Writing down on some paper, while Zeri watched. Emilia had started to clean some of the cages, so Zeri helped out, until Ariella was done. Then the three women returned back to the office and Ariella listed out the results.
52 stallions 61 mares 87 foals
43 stallions were bad stock. 49 mares were bad stock. 41 foals were bad stock.
200 Fluffies | 133 Bad stock. 66.5% Bad stock.
The number looked bad. It sounded like a poor representation of both Entepott and the Fluffy population, but there were reasons for this. Nowadays a lot of ferals didn’t originate from the Hasbio PETA incident. Those were Old Generations and most lived in the forests or the sewers or had been taken in by various research facilities. Most ferals nowadays were New Generations, bought from stores and shelters. So more often than not, they were runaways, and if there were runaways. Well sure they could have come from a bad home, but more likely they were entitled brats who ran away because they wanted sketti, babbehs or a number of other things.
Shelters also received a lot of Fluffies from owners, and a lot of the time, the reason the owners put the Fluffy up for adoption was because of bad behavioral traits. Spoiled. Demanding. Violent temper. Poor self-control. A lot of the Fluffies sent to shelters were a nuisances and owners simply handed their nuisance to this place. Plus, there were definitely a lot of people who did not know how to handle a Fluffy and ended up raising them to be nothing but trouble, before handing them over to the shelter.
Then there was the Happy Fluffy Hugbox shelter program, no kill rule condition. 66.5% of Entepott Fluffies were bad stock, but Entepott could not get rid of them, because in order to continue receiving monthly donations, Fluffies were not allowed to die. All 66.5% got to live the rest of their lives in a shelter until they died of natural cause. The no Fluffy abuse rule also prevented any brutal forms of punishment beyond a few hits with the sorry stick, so no proper way to educate the Fluffies, or no quick and efficient way, given the lack of staff.
Staffing was a major issue. The rules were 1 full time worker for every 40 Fluffies. That was a lot of work especially when underpaid. Minimum wage salary for “minimum wage work”. If owners paid above the salary, the fund only covered the ten thousand, the shelter had to cover the rest. Understaffed and underpaid, with 133 troublesome Fluffies. How did anyone ever think this was going to work.
The Happy Fluffy Hugbox Shelter program was a joke. A fund designed to help Hugbox shelters, yet also seemed to work against them. A case of people giving money to something they did not truly understand and make conditions for things they truly didn’t truly know. Well Entepott was free of such things now.
“So what we gonna do with the bad stock?” Zeri asked “Keep them alive and sell them to abusers for low prices? Could work if we sell them at nine a Fluffy. Cheaper than most abuse stores”.
“I think we should get rid of them immediately” Emilia stated.
Zeri looked at her in surprise “I’m surprised. I thought you would try to plead their case”
Emilia scoffed “I like Fluffies NOT Shit Rats, and these ones have been living far too good for far too long. End of the road for all of them, especially THAT Foal Fucker”.
“Abusers would make sure they get a miserable life though, and we get money”.
“Yeah, but when would that happen? Like Ariella said, even if we target abusers, there is no guarantee that one would come rushing into our door”.
Ariella nodded in agreement “I would like to make some money off the Bad Stock, even if just nine dollars a Fluffy, but we have to be realistic. I don’t think we can sell them off anytime soon. Best to get rid of them. Less mouths to feed. Less cleaning for us. So less work for us, more kibbles to ration and if we can free up more space… We can take in more from the government system, increasing quota targets and possibly increasing subsidy!”
All three women looked enticed by the idea, but Zeri had a question.
“How does the government subsidy scheme work?” She asked.
Ariella gave a brief summary. Unlike the Hugbox fund scheme there were significantly less conditions and it was definitely a lot more relaxed.
Shelters that applied for the fund were put on a system, managed by the Health and Environmental department, with shelters required to input available slots weekly. This was so the government had an idea on how many ferals to send to each shelter. Shelters that could take in more Fluffies every week moved up in the priority system, receiving more funding for their continued operations.
There were other rules.
- Mandatory neutering. More applicable to Fluffies put up for adoption, as captured ferals were already neutered before being handed over to shelters.
- Fluffies were required to have at least two weeks shelter stay before being classified as unsellable and viable for discard. This was less for the Fluffies and more to avoid shelters abusing the commission system.
- A penalty system for sheltered conditions designed to kill Fluffies under the two week mandatory stay period.
- Also all Fluffies that could not be sold, must be disposed completely. Furnace. Killed before trashed. A Fluffy could not leave a shelter unless it was bought or dead.
Zeri looked at Emilia and noticed her reaction. Her face. The look of horror. Probably from the realization of how cruel life could be for a Fluffy, but then she took a deep breath and her face turned stoic.
“So how does the commission system work?” Emilia asked “If we get rid of the entire bad stock that would free up one hundred and thirty three slots for new intake. Would that automatically move us up on the subsidy system?”
Zeri made a small smirk. It seemed Emilia was not as soft as she thought and another thought.
“If we get rid of the bad stock right now, how easily would the government be able to fill up all our free spaces?” Zeri asked
Ariella looked at both of them and thought about it carefully.
“No. Freeing up all those slots does not automatically put us up. It’s about consistency. Not how much space I can provide in one go, but rather how much space I can provide over time. It should be twenty free spaces every week for at least three months and they would increase funding, as for your question Zeri, they would fill it up pretty quickly. There are plenty of Old Generation nests out there and plenty of New Generations running from home. Massive backlogs. If shelters from a certain city are full, they would move the Fluffies to the shelters of another, nearby city”.
Zeri nodded. Thinking of all the logistics involved and the trouble saved if the Fluffies were straight up killed on the spot, but there were a couple of Hugbox politicians out there and people trying to fight for the right of Fluffies, so it wasn’t too surprising. She waved such thoughts and focused on what was important. A flaw in their plan.
“So even if we get rid of all the bad stock. The government will fill our cages in like less than a week and then we’ll be back to the same problem, right?”
A moment of silence occurred as Ariella and Emilia realized that this was the case. Getting rid of the bad stock did not solve their problem, as they would probably reach full capacity in a few weeks again. Ariella looked at her book case, deep in thought, while Emilia stared out into space. Zeri was trying to think of what to do, but she was too busy fantasizing about the screams. There were a couple of Smartys on her shit list and she could not wait to toss those fuckers into the furnace. Watching them go from Smawty gib worstest hurties to nu pwease wady, Fwuffy am onwy fo huggies n wuv. Fluffies really were such pathetic creatures. Creatures?
A flash of inspiration. A very dark idea. Zeri looked at the two women, both deep in thought. Two Hugboxers showing no qualms about killing 133 Fluffies, because the circumstances required it. A curiosity as to whether they would consider it. A brutal option, but one that could possibly cut costs. She needed to word it well if she wanted to convince them.
“So… um… we have two hundred Fluffies, and they can be categorized as sixty seven Good Fluffies and one hundred and thirty three Bad Fluffies, right?”
Ariella eyed Zeri “Yeah… what are you getting at?”
“Well I mean. The Good Fluffies we still wanna sell, but the Bad Fluffies we don’t care what happens to them, right?”
“Okay spit it out” Ariella stated firmly “No more foreplay”
Zeri grinned, then shrugged. So much for careful.
“Fluffy meat” she replied.
Ariella and Emilia looked at her in confusion. Not quite sure what she was getting at.
“I don’t get it. What does that mean?” Ariella asked.
“Feed Fluffies, well Fluffy meat… Bad Fluffy meat”
Another look of confusion from both woman, but Emilia was first to catch on.
“No! No way” she said with disgust.
“What? Make use of them befo…”
“You’re literally saying that we should force Fluffies to cannibalize each other?!”
“Well I mean we’re not make them kill each other. Kill them. Drain them. Dice them up into small bite size pieces and viola meat kibbles”.
“You’re fucking crazy Zeri” Emilia said in a raised tone.
Zeri pouted slightly and crossed her arms angrily “I’m just giving a suggestion. No need to insult me”.
“An insane one! Feeding Fluffies to other Fluffies, like that’s some extreme abuse psycho shit, right Ariella?!”
Ariella looked back at Emilia and nodded in agreement, but she remained silent and got out her paper.
52 stallions 61 mares 87 foals
43 stallions, 49 mares, 41 foals were bad stock.
9 stallions, 12 mares, 46 foals were good stock.
900g + 1,200g + 2,300g = 4,400 g = 4.4 kg
Two meals per day = 8.8 kg
21 x 25 = 525 / 8.8 = 59.66 days. Almost two months on their 21 bags.
Ariella looked at the number, and Zeri could see her discomfort. She actually felt a little guilty suggesting the idea, but Ariella sighed then nodded.
“Two bowl kibbles per day for Good Fluffies. Fluffy meat for Bad Stock” she declared.
Sorry there’s not a lot of Fluffies in this bit. I’m building it up. I swear I’ll actually have Fluffies the next part. Promise <3
Also
Lore thing
BrotherOni once asked me on the life cycle of my Fluffies.
My headcanon was 10 years life cycle.
6 months foal. 6 months young colt / mare. 8 years adult Fluffy. 1 year elder Fluffy.
However, I realize a major flaw in my logic. A big reason people hate Fluffies in my lore is because of their nature as an infestation species. That doesn’t really work when a Fluffy takes one year to grow. So I needed to modify my logic a bit, with the life cycle above applying to New Generation Fluffies.
Old Generation Fluffies had flawed DNA due to the whole Hasbio PETA incident. It only took those Fluffies 3 weeks to fully mature, allowing them to proliferate, thus creating this whole infestation matter. Hasbio modified the DNA to 1 year maturity / growth to ensure a similar infestation case would not happen, plus they found that a lot of customers liked Fluffies in development stage.
However, Old Generation Fluffies still exist. They live in forests and sewers, and due to their 3 week growth period they evolve faster, which I’m going to use as an excuse to explain why some are so smart like Sanny, because of somewhat rapid evolution.
In terms of my other stories.
Uphie / Gwent / Nelio / The Skettiland Rangers are all New Generation Fluffies
Sanny / Uphie’s special friend / The Fluffies from the Fluffy Sink experiment are all Old Generation Fluffies
Veve / Prie are hybrids. Smarter, but slower growth.
Gori-La-Fluffs have hybrid DNA models
Thanks
