SAINT-DENIS, France (REUTERS) - The death of a police dog named Diesel during a raid in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis evoked an outpouring of grief on social media on Wednesday.
The raid, which targeted the suspected Paris attack mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud, also resulted in the death of a woman suicide bomber and another militant.
The hashtag #JeSuisChien, which means "I am dog," went viral and trended worldwide on Twitter Wednesday morning in honor of Diesel.
Other popular hashtags included #RIPDiesel, #PrayForDiesel and #JeSuisDiesel.
The French police (@PNationale) had first announced the seven-year old dog's death on Twitter, which got more than 15,000 retweets and over 8,000 likes.
In a show of solidarity, others draped their dogs in French flags or posted photos of dogs holding the flag.
However, a number of netizens felt that the hashtag was inappropriate and criticised the trend as "overkill", especially in the light of the people who lost their lives in the Nov 13 Paris attacks.
User Dana Deaik, referencing a bomb blast in Nigeria which killed 32 people on Tuesday, wrote: "Only on Twitter is the life of a French police dog worth more than the lives of 32 Nigerians... #jesuischien #PrayerstoNigeria."
