Traditional police dog wedding in Sri Lanka condemned

Police hold a pair of sniffer dogs at a wedding 

Sri Lanka Police have come under severe criticism from cultural organizations as well as from the Minister of Culture and the Arts T. B. Ekanayake over a ceremony performed to wed  police dogs. Police "married" nine pairs of dogs on a platform decorated with white cloth and flowers in a ceremony resembling a traditional marriage. The "brides" wore mittens, shawls and hats while the "grooms" wore red ties. Police have defended the "wedding" saying that it was done to promote the domestic breeding of sniffer dogs. But in a statement they also apologised for their actions.

The Police, as part of the Police Canine Breeding Program, held a wedding ceremony on a Poruwa, a structure used for traditional Sinhala weddings, yesterday at the Asgiriya Grounds in Kandy to wed pairs of police dogs belonging to the Asgiriya Police Kennels. Veterinarians have presented "marriage certificates" to the dog couples certifying them suitable for breeding. The Minister of Culture and the Arts, T.B. Ekanayake condemned the wedding ceremony as damaging to the country's culture and requested the Inspector General of Police to conduct an immediate inquiry regarding the ceremony. Several organizations  expressed condemnation saying that it was an insult to the culture of the country.

But police say that the structure where the "weddings" were staged had nothing to do with Buddhism and that it was necessary to elevate the dogs so that they could be better photographed. "This did not in anyway resemble a poruwa and was simply placed there for the photo opportunity," the police said in the statement. Police have apologised for any offence caused to cultural and religious sensibilities - Sri Lanka is 75% ethnic Sinhalese and Buddhist.

They say that the "wedding" on Monday was intended to promote a programme to breed sniffer dogs domestically. Police told local media that in 2011 Sri Lanka spent 70m rupees ($526,000; £339,000) on importing police dogs from Netherlands. They said that the domestically-run breeding programme would not only keep this money in the country but would also produce dogs better suited to its climate.

Constables served milk rice and cake to about 1,000 guests at the specially decorated venue where the ceremony was held.The dog couples were driven off by police van to the hill resort of Nuwara Eliya for their "honeymoon". The event was held to commence the new program to breed police dogs within the country to save the cost of purchasing them from other countries.

Meanwhile, the Police Headquarters issuing a statement apologized for the event and said the Police Department had no intention of causing any insult to the Sri Lankan culture and expressed regret regarding any harm the activities of the inauguration ceremony of Police Canine Breeding Program may have caused to any cultural heritage or if it caused any person any discomfort.