Kunming Dog: A Breed Created by Crossbreeding German Shepherds and Local Mixed-Breed Dogs
As the Chinese government emphasizes self-reliance and seeks to reduce dependence on foreign countries, law enforcement authorities have decided to expand the use of domestically developed dog breeds for police work, instead of relying on well-known foreign breeds.
According to Reuters and Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on December 20, the Ministry of Public Security of China announced in a statement released on December 18 that it will more actively deploy the 'Kunming Dog,' a wolfdog breed raised and developed mainly in the southern Kunming region, as police dogs.
The Kunming Dog is not a traditional Chinese native breed; it was created over several decades by crossbreeding German Shepherds with local Chinese mixed-breed dogs.
The Ministry of Public Security explained that the Kunming Dog is the first-and currently the only-police dog breed for which China holds independent intellectual property rights.
The ministry also emphasized that the Kunming Dog, which has an excellent sense of smell, has been utilized in various fields such as law enforcement, disaster rescue, and customs smuggling prevention, and that its performance has been proven through long-term deployment in the field.
China has systematically fostered the Kunming Dog since establishing a specialized breeding center for the breed in Yunnan Province in the 1950s.
Wang Guodong, a zoological researcher in the Kunming region, stated, "The greatest advantage of the Kunming Dog is its relatively diverse genetic makeup," and assessed that "the breed developed in this region can be used for a wider range of purposes than foreign breeds."
He added, "While foreign breeds may demonstrate exceptional abilities in certain tasks, they can also reveal distinct weaknesses to the same degree."
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