Chinese police academy to auction off ‘coward’ dogs who failed to qualify

All dogs are equal, but some are just not cut out for police work. A police academy in China’s Liaoning province will auction off 54 “coward” dogs with “weak pickup and retrieving abilities” that failed to qualify for its training programme.

The fully-trained dogs — mainly German shepherds and Belgian Malinois — will find homes with people who are required to follow a list of government guidelines on their care, put up by the Criminal Investigation Police University on their website. The auction will happen on 7 July at the premises of the academy.

Among the reasons listed for these 54 dogs not making the cut are “cowardice, body strength, including small size or weak limbs, lack of obedience, and weak pickup and retrieving abilities,” the South China Morning Post reported. Some dogs were just “timid” and “won’t bite” — meaning they would not attack a target as per their trainer’s instructions, reported CNN.

However, CNN quoted a police officer in the Jiangning Police Bureau on the Chinese social media site, Weibo saying that the police dogs had not been “eliminated” as was being reported, but “they never reached the stage of becoming a police dog because they were not admitted.”

The academy requires bidders to “observe the local government’s regulations on dog raising.” It includes raising the dog “in a civilised manner,” not reselling it and carrying out its care “until natural death.”

The bidding starts at 200 yuan (£22.4). German shepherds are among the most commonly used breeds for police training for their calm nerve, intelligence, protective nature, loyalty, strength and athletic build.

The story drew mocking responses from Chinese Weibo users.

“There’s so much pressure and such fierce competition to get a government job, even for dogs,” SCMP quoted a Weibo user as saying.

“Even if they are too much of a ‘coward’ to catch thieves, they can still qualify to be play dates for children,” said another.

“When bringing the dogs back home, please make sure not to tell your neighbours that they failed the test. Just imagine how you feel when your parents tell others that you failed your test when applying for schools,” CNN quoted a Weibo user as saying.

According to the Sixth Tone, a Chinese police officer by the name of Jiangning Popo told his 5.8 million followers on Weibo: “In short, don’t be hot-headed. Think carefully before you bid.”