(Photo/People's Court of Chaoyang District)

A 4-year-old Shiba Inu has become an internet sensation after a local court listed it for auction due to the animal's excessive boarding fees.

The dog, named Deng Deng, was abandoned by its owner at a pet center in Beijing almost three years ago. Next month, it will be put on judicial sale according to a court order from Beijing Chaoyang Court.

Deng Deng was sent to a pet center by his owner in 2014, who paid the center an annual boarding fee. However, the owner stopped showing up from February 2015, despite the pet center’s attempts to contact him.

In 2017, the pet center filed a lawsuit against Deng Deng’s owner, who hadn’t paid any fees for two years. When the latter failed to show up to the hearing, the court decided to auction Deng Deng.

Deng Deng will go up for auction on Nov. 10 with a starting bid of 500 yuan (about $72). The main page of the auction showed that by Oct. 26, more than 1,000 people had registered for the auction.

The court said auctioning Deng Deng is about finding the dog a new owner, but the pet center has no right to do so. “On the other hand, the auction money could be used to cover the dog’s boarding fees that have amounted over the past years,” the court said.