[Photo: China Daily]
People Daily Online: A project to train stray dogs to assist elderly people and those hard of hearing has been launched in Beijing.
The China Beijing Hearing-Dog Association plans to select dogs from an animal shelter in northern Changping district that is managed by the Beijing public security bureau, and to invite dog trainers from Japan.
“We’ll choose young dogs, because it’s easier to train them,” project leader Wang Yue said on Monday. “The breed of dog is not so important.”
To date, 24 residents have applied to become students in hearing-dog training.
“We prefer applicants with some experience of training dogs and that have great passion for dogs,” Wang said. “The selected people will learn hand-sign language first from the Japanese instructors.
A base for training guide dogs for the blind has been established in Dalian in Northeast China’s Liaoning province.
Stray dogs to be trained to help people [People Daily Online]