Dog worshipped by Chinese villagers in annual festival

GUIZHOU, China: People in a Chinese village organise an annual festival that sees a dog being dressed up in human clothing, carried on a sedan chair and worshipped as a god.

Conducted every year by the Miao people of Jiaobang village in the Guizhou province, The Dog Carrying Day festival has seen the creatures worshipped for centuries.

The annual celebration is marked with a parade for the dog which is dressed in a tailor-made shirt and a hat. It is then placed on a wooden sedan chair and carried over a rice paddy, while people sing and beat drums.

According to the South China Morning Post, the first settlers in the area were saved from dying of thirst by a dog which led them to a water source in the area, an act the settlers believed to be a sign of divinity.

A shaman leads the parade and people have mud thrown at them as part of a symbolic gesture to the god for peace, health and prosperity.

People will gather in the streets alongside the parade to show gratitude to the animal and pray for a good harvest in the coming year, according to the People’s Daily newspaper.

Some have criticised the parade however, with people last year claiming online that the parade mistreats the dog by tying a chain around the animal’s neck.