CHINA China is a country with a long and somewhat complicated history with dogs --evolving from pets of ancient aristocrats to more functional roles in the Communist era as sentry dogs and, though it's far less accepted today, as a long-standing part of Chinese cuisine. Recent years have shown an enormous rise in the number of domesticated dogs in China, a trend that seems to match the incredibly high number in China's military canine forces.
Last December, reports came out that China has 10,000 military working dogs for peacekeeping, search and rescue operations, and border patrol. China officially began its "MWD" program in 1950, though it was then discontinued sometime in the 1960s, only to finally resume in 1991. It now hosts a canine training center and breeding program in Beijing. One of the representatives of that program told Xinhua reporters, "In the past five years, our military working dogs have helped solve hundreds of cases. They have been playing a key role in the army that could not be replaced by modern technology or human efforts."
In this photo, a police dog jumps through a barrier during a training session at a military base on April 14, 2005, in Qinghai Province.
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