A Chinese zoo in Guangdong province has admitted to deceiving visitors with a bizarre spectacle: two Chow Chow dogs painted black and white to resemble pandas, CNN reports.
The zoo, known as “Strange Animals and Cute Pets Paradise,” has been showcasing the “Panda Dogs” as a top attraction.
A video posted on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, showing the dogs in their enclosure sparked outrage online. The video went viral, garnering over 1.4 million shares and 725,000 likes. Another social media post featured a photo of the dogs next to a sign that reads “Painted Dogs,” confirming the deception.
The zoo’s manager, surnamed Huang, confirmed the dogs were indeed Chow Chows painted to resemble pandas.
“You can see by our name, we are ‘Strange Animals and Cute Pets Paradise,’” she explained to the state-affiliated outlet Sichuan Observation. “These are Chow Chow dogs being painted (as pandas), as this is part of our specialties.”
This isn’t the first time China has witnessed animals being painted to imitate rare species. In May, a zoo in Jiangsu province came under fire for painting two dogs to look like pandas. The incident sparked widespread criticism, forcing the zoo to confess.
In 2019, a café in Chengdu faced backlash for offering pet dyeing services to transform animals into pandas. And back in 2016, Guangdong pet shops were exposed for selling dogs dyed to resemble miniature tigers.
While the “Panda Dogs” are being presented as a unique attraction, the practice has raised concerns about animal welfare and the ethics of using animals for entertainment purposes. Many online users expressed their disapproval, calling the practice “cruel” and “disrespectful.”
