POLICE in the Central Chinese city of Wuhan held a brief yet solemn memorial ceremony for their dog colleagues Friday, China’s traditional Tomb-sweeping day.

Chinese families usually visit the tombs of their ancestors on the day, also known as Qingming Festival, but Wang Zibo and his colleagues from the city’s public security bureau gathered at a garden where five police dogs, who lost their lives in missions last year, were laid to rest.

“My colleague, I will always remember you,” Wang murmured while dusting off the wooden tombstone carrying the name Wudi, meaning “invincible” in Chinese.

“He was more than just a dog, but a comrade-in-arms who could not speak but knew me deep down,” Wang said of Wudi, who had assisted him on numerous missions.

Together with Wudi, four other police dogs were buried in a small backyard garden, reserved as a cemetery for canine heros, at the city’s training center for police dogs.

Several police dogs also accompanied the policemen for the ritual, which included saluting the tombstones and laying flowers. Policemen also placed a puppy in front of one tomb, temporarily, hoping it could receive the blessing of the deceased dogs and grow into a hero police dog one day.

“After burying them last year, we decided to sweep their tombs every year, which we believe is the best way to remember their devotion to public security,” said Zhang Xiao, deputy squadron leader of the training center. (Xinhua)