Chinese zoo starts ‘panda dog’ enclosure with dyed chow chows

BEIJING (The Straits Times/ANN): Two “panda dogs” have been delighting and perplexing visitors of a zoo in China since a dedicated enclosure opened to the public on May 1.

Videos of the animals posted online confused netizens, some of whom mistook them for real pandas, with others asking whether “panda dog” was a real breed.

And while they admitted that the animals looked uncannily similar to giant pandas, certain internet users thought it was odd that they would shake their heads like dogs.

According to local reports, they are chow chows that have been dyed to look like giant pandas.

An information board put up in front of the enclosure at the Taizhou Zoo in Jiangsu province tells visitors that panda dogs are not an actual dog breed.

They are rather pet dogs that have been groomed to look like pandas or that were born with coat patterns similar to those of pandas.

Such canines will often have a white undercoat with black markings around the eye rims and ears, mimicking the facial features of a giant panda.

One visitor said she drove past the zoo on May 3 and just had to visit after seeing cars swarming the zoo’s entrance.

She said: “After entering the zoo, I heard many people asking where the panda was. I just followed the crowd. I only realised they were actually dogs and not pandas after reaching the enclosure.”

Entrance to the panda dog enclosure is included in the zoo’s general entry ticket, which costs 20 yuan (S$4) per adult.

A worker at the zoo told local news outlet Jiangsu News that the initiative aims to attract more visitors and make the zoo experience more fun.

He added that the zoo has yet to introduce actual pandas as the facility is too small and unable to house a giant panda enclosure.

While the attraction was a hit and drew thousands of visitors over the May Day holiday, some netizens questioned if dyeing the chow chows is cruel.

Taizhou Zoo said that dog fur is similar to human hair and can be dyed harmlessly in the same manner.

In 2016, Singapore’s Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) said it was looking into the case of three chow chows in the country that were dyed to look like pandas.

Their owner had started a service renting out the pure-bred dogs for photo shoots but denied that her actions were cruel.

AVA said then that it was looking into the case to ensure that animal welfare had not been compromised, but it added that the use of safe, non-toxic food dyes is unlikely to harm the dogs. – The Straits Times/ANN