A video grab shows the drivers kneeling with a dead poodle in Suzhou on Jan 9, 2011. [Photo/scol.com]

Two men driving a van were forced to kneel for one hour with a dead poodle after they ran the dog over in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province on Sunday, local news portal scol.com reported.

According to witnesses, the dog owner asked for 5,000 yuan ($753) in compensation and refused to let them go.

The dog owner said he bought the dog for 4,000 yuan ($602) and added 1,000 yuan ($105) for feeding expenses.

After learning that the two didn't have enough money, the owner demanded they kneel for one hour.

"He kicked the driver on the leg and then the driver knelt down, and the other man followed suit," said a witness surnamed Guan.

Police were called, but the dog owner and the driver told them they had already made a deal.

Another witness said it was so cold out that her husband tried to persuade the drivers to get up but they refused.

One hour later, the owner took away his dog and the drivers stood up and drove away.

The incident took place at a busy intersection. "The poodle came out of nowhere, so sudden that the driver probably had no idea what was going on," a witness said.

The news has sparked a hot discussion on the Internet, with many netizens finding it outrageous. Some said the dog owner should also be held responsible for his dog's death, some said he was overbearing and offensive, and some said it was an incident of nuts meeting nerds.

Yan Guoya, a lawyer, said it was a demoralizing incident, and that the van drivers could ask for an apology or something to safeguard their legal rights by law.

A video grab shows the drivers kneeling with a dead poodle in Suzhou on Jan 9, 2011. [Photo/scol.com]