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A zoo in China was forced to admit that its pandas were just painted dogs after one of the “pandas” started panting and barking.
Zoogoers at the Shanwei Zoo realized they were being scammed after one of the “pandas” started panting and barking, the New York Post wrote.
A video showed two Chow Chows, obviously painted black and white to appear as pandas, panting on a rock at their zoo enclosure.
This left the zoogoers outraged over the discovery. But the zoo initially tried to brush it off, claiming that the animals were a breed of “panda dogs”.
However, the zoo later admitted that the animals were indeed dogs, Chow Chows to be specific, painted with black and white dye to look like pandas.
Visitors have since demanded a refund from the zoo, which claims that it is home to “rare and exotic animals”.
However, the zoo denied that they tried to mislead people as they never claimed the dogs were pandas, reiterating that they were “panda dogs”.
This isn’t the first time a zoo in China was caught lying about fake animals. And this isn’t also the first time “panda dogs” went viral on social media, for all the wrong reasons, might we add.
A few months ago, another zoo, Taizhou Zoo, sparked fury for the same reason of dyeing Chow Chows to disguise them as pandas.
The Daily Mail reports that a zoo spokesperson for Taizhou Zoo 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,” the spokesperson added.
Locals were quick to slam the zoo for their scam and accused them of animal cruelty for dyeing the dogs’ fur.
However, the spokesperson for the zoo explained their side regarding the animal cruelty accusations saying, “People also dye their hair. Natural dye can be used on dogs if they have long fur.”
