Dog Breeder Detained For Giving 'Illegal' Names To Animals

A dog breeder in eastern China was taken into custody by police after giving his two dogs "illegal" names that refer to government and civil service workers, reports said Wednesday. According to Beijing News, the man in his early 30s, surnamed Ban, in eastern Anhui Province posted on mobile messenger WeChat that he had two new dogs, named Chengguan and Xieguan.

The dog's names ended up attracting controversy because "Chengguan" are officials employed in urban areas to tackle low-level crime, while "Xieguan" are informal community workers such as traffic assistants, according to BBC. Ban reportedly gave the dogs the names "for fun," but he didn't realize this would land him in trouble with authorities.

Zhangzhou Police said on Chinese social media site Weibo the information was "insulting law enforcement personnel," and prompted an investigation.

Authorities added that "in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Public Security Administration Punishment," Ban must spend 10 days in an administrative detention center.

A police officer, identified just by his last name Li, told Beijing News that Ban had been increasingly provocative on his WeChat account, and his actions had "caused great harm to the nation and the city's urban management, in terms of their feelings."

"I don't know the law, I don't know if it is illegal," Ban, who local media outlets reported as being remorseful over his actions, told Fuyang News.

Many Sina Weibo microblog users voiced their concerns about the conditions under which Ban was detained, BBC reported.

"Can you tell me which law stipulates that dogs can't be called Chengguan?" one user asked. Another questioned: "What other words could you be imprisoned for?"

In recent years, China has been patrolling and cracking down on social media users. The country is working on a social credit system to be in place by 2020, which would monitor the behavior of China’s 1.4 billion citizens online.