A Chinese city's campaign to hunt down wolves preying on humans has sparked dispute after police shot dead one of the animals and allegedly captured a pet husky dog, mistaking it for a wolf.

While local residents hailed the death of the predator, China's Internet users have challenged the decision to slay rather than capture the protected wild animal, and lamented the possibility that domestic pets may be caught up in the crackdown.

Suspected wolf attacks were reported earlier this month in the city of Zaozhuang in east China's Shandong Province, after two people were killed and another five injured in four townships.

In a bid to allay public fears, local authorities mobilized more than 100 armed policemen for a high-profile manhunt, which killed a wolf on March 19 and caged another animal on March 23.

China's online community has displayed different reactions. Some netizens opposed the killing, arguing that police could have used anaesthetic bullets to subdue the beast, which is under state protection due to its endangered status.

There are also voices siding with the execution. "The victims have most of the say, while we onlookers should refrain from making easy remarks," said "Shangshanruoshui" on sina.weibo, the popular Chinese microblogging site.

The wind of public opinion started to turn against the campaign, however, after a local resident claimed the "wolf" in the second capture was actually a stray pet dog he had been looking for.

The man, only giving his surname as Wang, said he was outraged to see his female husky, named "Lady," appear on the news labeled as a killer wolf.

Wang said the zoo that held Lady had recognized the mistake after an investigation by a local zoologist confirmed the canine's husky status, but the zoo refused to release the animal until an official investigation is conducted.

An official at the local forestry bureau told Xinhua they had confirmed the body in the first case as a wild wolf, adding that the shooting was justified as human lives and properties had been at risk.

But anaesthetic bullets and traps would be preferred in future hunts to avoid killing, said the official, who wished not to be named.

The captured canine in the second case still needs identification, he added.

China has seen a spurt in wild animal attacks in recent years, probably due to ecological recovery in areas that had been devastated by human activity, and the public call for more lenient treatment of predators has shown a rising awareness of animal welfare, according to experts.

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