In a surprising revelation, a zoo in Guangdong province, southern China, has admitted that two of its star panda attractions were actually fluffy Chow Chow dogs painted to look like the beloved national animal.
The news broke after a visitor’s video featuring the painted dogs went viral on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, garnering over 1.4 million views and 725,000 likes.
The zoo had labeled the dogs as “painted dogs,” with signage stating, “We are called Panda Dogs, a pet dog that resembles a panda, dyed and dressed up from Chow Chow. We are gentle, smart, friendly, cute, and adorable!”
Zoo manager Huang confirmed that these painted dogs were among the facility’s top attractions.
This incident is not the first of its kind in China. In May, a zoo in Jiangsu province faced criticism for painting two dogs to resemble pandas, resulting in public outrage and an eventual admission from the zoo. Additionally, a café in Chengdu offered dyeing services for pets to look like pandas, while pet shops in Guangdong were caught selling dogs dyed to resemble miniature tigers in 2016.
