Famed patrol dog heads for well-earned retirement after a lifetime of service

A retired police dog named Huzi recently became famous after his story was widely reported by local and even national media. He hit the headlines because he was about to work his last Spring Festival travel rush before retiring later this year.

The 14-year-old is a member of a security team that patrols a section of the Harbin-Qiqihar high-speed railway, China's most northerly high-speed railway, in Heilongjiang province. After retiring from working with the police, Huzi, Mandarin for "tiger", joined the team in 2015, when the railway opened to traffic.

The line－connecting Harbin, the provincial capital, and Qiqihar, Heilongjiang's second-largest city－has a designed speed of 250 kilometers per hour, which has reduced the journey time from three hours to just 85 minutes.

The railway has 78 lookout posts, and each section employs three patrol officers and a dog. Huzi's team patrols a section of line in Daqing, a city known for oil and coal production.

It is an extremely cold area, where wintry conditions dominate for six months of the year, so handlers and their dogs can often be seen patrolling in the snow. Huzi's daily job is to help patrol 32 km of the railway's protective barrier to check for potential hazards and ensure the line's safe operation.