Dogs taught to drive to show their intelligence and encourage adoption

An animal welfare group in New Zealand has spent eight weeks teaching three of its shelter dogs to drive.

The welfare group, Aukland SPCA, trained the dogs in order to show how intelligent they are and to encourage people to adopt them.

Three dogs were chosen from a group of seven, Porter, Monty and Ginny. They were given daily training exercises to familiarise themselves with the procedures of driving and then after eight weeks were put behind the wheel.

A Mini Cooper was specially adapted for the dogs and it was reported that they were able to put it in gear, accelerate and steer the vehicle. However, the next step for the SPCA is to train them to drive solo as they still require the help of an assistant.

Auckland SPCA chief Christine Kalin said: "They will hop in, start the car, put it into gear, use the accelerator.

"It's an off-road raceway track and at all times we have a remote capacity to stop the car should we need to."

Ms Kalin described the three pooches as "highly adoptable", adding: "They are very intelligent, but they aren't any more special than any of the other SPCA dogs.

"Our dream would be throughout our major cities and across Australasia will be people will be proud of owning a rescue dog."