There are 7,000 dogs in active service for the People's Liberation Army (PLA), sources with the military dog breeding center said in Beijing Thursday.

 

After training, qualified military dogs can assist the military forces in various fields including mine detecting, telecommunications and scouting, Yu Bin a trainer at the center said.

 

In the past five years, over 100 criminal cases were broken with the help of military dogs, the sources said.

 

Ten breeds of dogs including Belgium collie were bred and trained as military dogs. At six-months old, puppy candidates are chosen and enrolled in an eight-month training program.

 

After the founding of new China, the PLA set up training centers for military dogs in Beijing. By the 1960's, all the PLA Military Commands had established military dog teams.

 

During the 1970s, all training centers for military dogs were closed but they were re-opened 1991.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2006)