A chain of dog grooming salons in Moscow is offering a free St. George's ribbon tattoo with every haircut until May 9 in honor of Victory Day.
The Balyti chain of salons announced the special offer on Tuesday via its Instagram page, where the news was accompanied by photos of dogs sporting orange-and-black striped tattoos. It was not made clear in the post whether the tattoos were permanent or temporary.
The offer prompted a mixed reaction among social media users, with some praising it as a "good idea" and others denouncing it as disrespectful.
"The St. George's ribbon should be worn with pride on one's chest. And not on the rear end of a dog," wrote one social media user below Balyti's post on Instagram.
"Yes, it's too much. There's no need to do that," added another user.
A representative of the salon told the Barking News web site that the offer only applied to St. George's ribbon tattoos and not to other patriotic symbols, such as the Russian flag.
The post has since been removed from the Instagram site.
The St. George ribbon, worn to commemorate the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, was first introduced in the 18th century as the highest military decoration for valor.
Following Russia's annexation of the Black Sea peninsula Crimea in March last year, the tricolor ribbon has also become an almost obligatory accessory for pro-Kremlin patriots.
