THE owners of two dogs that were rescued from a gang of dog thieves by Longgang police last week claimed their dogs after reading a news article about the rescued dogs, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.

    The other five rescued dogs are being cared for by a man surnamed Hong. Hong lives in Fuchengao Community at Pinghu in Longgang District.

    Police said if not for Hong, the dogs would probably be euthanized.

    The dogs were freed when police busted a gang of dog thieves Tuesday in Longgang District.

    A man surnamed Ma recognized his dog when he arrived at the police station where the rescued dogs were taken. “My grandson cried all night (when the dog went missing),” said Ma.

    Ma said his dog is like a family member, and the dog often walks with Ma and his grandson to school.

    Ma said his dog ran out of the house in the morning of April 19 and never came back. “We are very grateful for the police’s efforts to catch the dog thieves and rescue [our dog],” said Ma.

    Not everyone was as lucky as Ma. A woman surnamed Zhang was disappointed when she did not find her dog at the police station.

    Zhang said that her Golden Retriever went missing April 15 and her son had not eaten properly for several days as a result. After reading the news article in the Daily, Zhang came to the police station but couldn’t find her dog.

    Most of the people who went to the police station in search of their lost dogs left disappointed.

    Police caught another two people suspected of stealing dogs in Dongguan on Wednesday, two days after the gang was caught.

    An investigation team seized the two suspects while they were slaughtering dogs in a slaughterhouse in Dongguan.

    The suspects allegedly bought stolen dogs from the thieves directly.

    “These people did not care about the source of the dogs or whether the dogs had quarantine certificates as long as the price was lower than the market price,” said the police.

    An employee at the slaughterhouse said they normally purchase dogs for 11 yuan (US$1.7) per half kilogram and sell the slaughtered dogs with a price of 15 yuan per half kilogram. The butcher earns over 100 yuan for each dog.

    The two suspects, both surnamed Zhang, pleaded guilty to buying stolen dogs and concealing the proceeds of crime. They are under criminal detention at the police station now.

    (Zhang Qian)