Is this animal cruelty?

Chinese zoo turns dogs into pandas

There was no room for real panda bears, so dog puppies in "panda costumes" had to be used.(Bild: Screenshot kameraOne)

Panda bears are a major attraction for many zoo visitors around the world. This is probably why the management of a Chinese zoo, whose grounds are too small to keep the real bamboo eaters, came up with a special trick. But the scam was recently exposed.

At first glance, visitors to the zoo in the city of Taizhou in the coastal province of Zhejiang thought they were marveling at cute panda cubs. But on closer inspection, the fake pandas flew out. They were actually puppies of the Chow Chow dog breed, whose fur had been cut and dyed accordingly. 

There was no room for real panda bears, so dog puppies in "panda costumes" had to be used.(Bild: Screenshot kameraOne)

The "new attraction" was advertised on the occasion of Labor Day. Now there is a lot of anger. Accusations of cruelty to animals and deliberate deception of visitors are being made on social media.

Zoo emphasizes: No harm to puppies
The zoo defends itself and emphasizes that the Chow Chow puppies would not be harmed by the colouring of the fur and that the new attraction would have been advertised with signs as "panda dogs". An animal keeper told Chinese media that the conditions in the Taizhou Zoo unfortunately do not allow the keeping of real pandas. A keeper had come across the idea of chow chows on the internet.

Incidentally, the common name for pandas in China translates as "big bear-cat". Hopefully cats won't have to be used for such an action next time.