‘Panda Dogs’: Chinese zoo goes viral for luring visitors with painted pups

A zoo in China’s Guangdong province has admitted that its popular panda exhibit actually features Chow Chow dogs painted to resemble pandas. A visitor’s video posted on Douyin (China’s version of TikTok) went viral, amassing over 1.4 million shares and 725,000 likes, showing the black-and-white canines in an enclosure labeled “painted dogs.” The zoo’s manager, surnamed Huang, stated that the dogs are a major attraction and part of the zoo’s specialty in showcasing “strange animals and cute pets.”

This is not an isolated incident in China. In May, a zoo in Jiangsu province faced public outrage after it was discovered that they had painted dogs to look like pandas. Similarly, a café in Chengdu offered a service in 2019 to dye pets to resemble pandas, and pet shops in Guangdong were caught selling dogs dyed to look like miniature tigers in 2016. These practices have sparked discussions about animal welfare and ethical concerns over misleading the public.

Source: CNN