Beijing court to auction dog next month

Chaoyang District People’s Court in Beijing will auction a 4-year-old dog on Nov 10 after its owner lost a lawsuit brought by a boarding kennel for nonpayment of fees.

More than 1,000 people have paid a 50 yuan ($7.22) deposit to participate in the morning auction, and more than 10,000 people have clicked on the court’s auction website on Taobao, an e-commerce platform. The reserve price for Dengdeng, a male shiba inu, has been set at 500 yuan, with bidding to proceed in 10 yuan increments.

Dengdeng weighs 10 kilograms and is 40 centimeters tall, according to an auction notice on the court’s website. He has been sterilized and vaccinated, but is not yet registered, it said.

News of the auction has spread widely on social media, with netizens remarking on how cute Dengdeng looks in photos and a video posted on the auction website, and many expressing their willingness to take part in the auction.

Dengdeng’s owner, surnamed Xiao, dropped the dog off at the boarding kennel in August 2014, agreeing to pay it 50 yuan a day, Beijing Youth Daily reported. He then took Dengdeng home in November that year, only to return him to the kennel on Dec 20, when he made a one-time payment of 10,000 yuan for a year’s care.

Xiao took Dengdeng home again on Feb 15, 2015, but sent him back to the kennel eight days later. It was the last time Dengdeng saw his owner, and the kennel did not receive any more money.

The center was unable to reach Xiao, and last year decided to sue him for more than 30,000 yuan in unpaid fees. The court ruled in favor of the center in September last year, with Xiao failing to appear in court.

The center had been unable to contact Xiao since winning the lawsuit, the center’s owner, surnamed Wang, told Beijing Youth Daily.