Turkmenistan dedicates holiday to enormous national dog breed

The country's president has also erected a gold statue and dedicated an ode to the Alabai dog breed

Turkmenistan marked a new holiday on Sunday dedicated to its national - and very large - Alabai dog breed, to which its longtime leader has already erected a gilded monument and written an ode.

The new holiday took place on the same day as a festival celebrating the Akhal-Teke horse breed, which Turkmenistan also considers part of its national heritage.