SriLanka police have apologized for
holding a group wedding ceremony for sniffer dogs after the country’s
culture minister condemned the event and demanded an investigation,
officials said yesterday. Nine pairs of police dogs dressed in shawls,
hats and socks were placed on a decorated platform like those used in
traditional weddings in the ceremony Monday in the central town of
Kandy. Their marriages were also registered by an official in the
presence of a crowd of veterinary surgeons, medical doctors, top police
officers and the public.
Video footage on local television showed
the married dog couples were later being driven away in a decorated
police jeep for their “honeymoons.” The ceremony received wide
publicity, and also strong criticism from the cultural officials.
Culture and Arts Minister T.B. Ekananayake said the ceremony undermined
traditional wedding rituals and should be strongly condemned. He called
for an investigation into the incident. A decorated platform is used for
traditional nuptials by the Sri Lanka’s majority Sinhalese Buddhists.
Police spokesman Buddhika Siriwardena
apologized yesterday for any damage to the country’s cultural heritage,
saying the program was aimed at breeding the sniffer dogs. “This program
is aimed at breeding dogs accustomed to local weather and food, thereby
saving money,” Siriwardena said in a statement, adding that in 2011 the
police department spent $500,000 importing such dogs from the
Netherlands.
Source : AP
