Nanjing police apologize for dragging stray dog beside police car

Police from Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, apologized after footage of them dragging a stray dog beside a police car went viral, the Beijing News reported.

The video, posted on the evening of August 5, showed a dog being dragged by a police car. Some netizens question whether the police behavior in the clip constitutes dog abuse.

The Jiangning branch of the city’s public security bureau apologized on their official Weibo account later that night for "hurting the feelings of animal lovers with the unprofessional practice."

Police said they received a report at 7:50am on August 5 from a resident, surnamed Zhou, saying an unleashed dog was disturbing residents in a residential complex around Lukou Neighborhood. However, police failed to locate the dog when they arrived on the scene. Zhou said the dog had already left, according to the Weibo post.

Police later found the stray dog, which had patchy fur and ringworm, at 5:50pm on the same day. Residents living in the area told officers the dog had been hanging around for several days in their complex, barking and running about, the post suggested.

Police captured the dog on the scene and then decided to pull it along beside the police car as they hadn't brought an adequate cage with them and lacked the professional skills required to deal with stray dogs.

After the video went viral, police said they accepted criticism and supervision from netizens and would strengthen training in certain areas to prevent anything similar from happening in the future.

Some netizens argued there was nothing wrong with the act as the police car was driving at a slow speed, and accused some dog lovers of overreacting. Others said dog owners need to look after their own dogs and not abandon them.