So far, the trash can had yielded some Chinese noodles in a peanut sauce (Ben had tossed the takeout after it had been the fridge for five days), some cold French fries, and some greasy burger wrappers. Other than the wrappers, none of those items held much interest.
Ben, now a Newfoundland dog with a dense coat of black fur with a steak of white beneath his throat and onto his belly region, looked up dumbly at his friend Adam and then went back to scavenging. Finding his efforts a bust, the frustrated dog sniffed the breeze to detect some other potential sources. Latching on to one, he watched the man enter the house before he trotted to the street on his large paws, hung a right, and headed toward the barbecue restaurant at the end of the block. His excellent sense of smell detected some extremely tempting smells coming from the dumpster out back of the building.
Getting into the dumpster proved a challenge, but Ben was a fairly intelligent and resourceful dog. With his hind limbs offering support, he hooked his front paws over the entrance in the side of the dumpster. He managed to snag the closest garbage bag in his teeth and pulled it outside, ripping the plastic and strewing the contents over the asphalt of the alley behind the establishment.
Grease, rib bones, and some meaty scraps pushed the dog's brain into extremely happy territory. Ben drooled over the barbecue buffet scattered on the pavement before he scarfed down some of the choicer bits. His tail wagged as he selected a nice bone and settled on his stomach to gnaw on it.
The fact that he continued to put more distance between himself and the Transformationet didn't occur to him. He no longer even remembered the amazing app on his computer.
He could have gnawed in perfect contentment on the rib bone for hours, but he heard footsteps. He looked up with his dark eyes and saw a man in a uniform. Had Ben still been able to read, he would have seen the words Animal Welfare on the man's shirt.
The man took one look at the large Newfoundland dog and sized up the animal. No collar, no identification. Probably a family that didn't know what they were getting when they brought home such a large dog and had now abandoned the animal.
"Well, we will get you off the streets, boy," the man said.
Ben wagged his tail.
"Yeah, you just come with me." The man extended an animal control pole after he adjusted the loop at the end for the dog's large head. Ben kept chewing on the bone, unconcerned as the man circled his head and neck with the loop. A light tug once the loop was around his neck convinced Ben to get onto all fours and blandly follow the man from the alley toward a waiting truck.
Just as the man prepared to load the dog into a large cage in the back of the truck...