Featured Image Credit: ASIA WIRE
Topics: Animals, China, Dogs, Animal Cruelty
Poppy Bilderbeck
A zoo in China caused pandamonium among visitors when the animals in the 'panda' exhibit started to bark.
Imagine this. Your favorite animal is a panda and one day, your parents finally bow down to clearing any other plans and taking you to the local zoo.
You see a flash of black and white fur from a short distance away and race your way to the panda exhibit only to throw yourself against the bars to get a closer look and see the panda is... Panting?
On Sunday (September 15), visitors who went to see 'rare and exotic animals' at an animal park in Shanwei, China didn't quite receive what they signed up for.
Visitors recalled reaching the exhibit and finding the 'pandas' panting and barking which immediately aroused suspicion they weren't true examples of the bear species native to the country.
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It's not a great surprise many guests of the park subsequently complained and asked for their money back.
However, the zoo actually defended itself.
Officials from the park argued it never actually claimed the animals in the exhibit were 'pandas' but actually 'panda dogs'.
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Admitting the true identity of the animals to local media, someone from the zoo confirmed the animals placed in the enclosure were actually Chow Chows - a spitz-type of dog breed originally from Northern China - whose hair had been dyed to match the typical color of pandas.
You'd think this would've been the first time a zoo has decided to try and use another type of animal in an exhibit other than the one expected to be there, alas, another park tried to get away with it back in May earlier this very year.
In May, Taizhou Zoo - located in Jiangsu Province, China - had people 'queueing' to see a rare animal only to be met with the face of several painted dogs, dotted with black spots around their eyes.
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Similarly to the most recent dog-painting incident, the animals in Taizhou Zoo were also Chow Chows and very far from being any sort of wild or rare animal.
A spokesperson for Taizhou Zoo said at the time: "Natural dye can be used on dogs if they have long fur," the spokesperson said.
"There are no panda bears at the zoo and we wanted to do this as a result. A lot of people are coming to visit them and you need to queue up."
I think I'll just stick to snuggling my own dog for free at home thanks.