Taizhou Zoo: Fury after zoo in China accused of dyeing chow chow dogs black and white to look like pandas

A zoo in China has come under fire for allegedly attempting to deceive paying customers by dyeing dogs black and white to resemble pandas. Taizhou Zoo, in the eastern Chinese coastal province of Jiangsu, reportedly charged 20 yuan (£2.22) to see a new exhibition featuring “panda dogs” from May.

However, visitors claimed the animals were actually chow chows, a dog breed known for its thick double coat of fur from northern China - which were dyed to make them look like pandas.

According to Chinese state media outlet The Global Times, lawyers said "inevitably the visitors will feel disappointed and deceived upon discovering the truth" about the exhibit.

But a worker at the zoo denied accusations of false advertising and told the outlet on Monday: "This is just a new display we offer to visitors. We are not charging extra. The wording featuring chow chow dogs is correct and exactly describes what they are, so we are not cheating our visitors."

A zoo spokesperson also defended the panda exhibit, adding: “People also dye their hair. Natural dye can be used on dogs if they have long fur. There are no panda bears at the zoo and we wanted to do this as a result.”

This is not the first time a Chinese zoo appears to have tried to pull such a stunt. In 2010, Hangzhou Zoo denied that its sun bears were people, after a video of one standing like a human went viral. In 2010, a park in the city of Zhengzhou bought four dyed chow cows and a golder retriever, dyed to resemble a tiger from a pet market in Sichuan as an attempt to attract visitors, according to a report from Reuters.

In 2019, a cafe in Chengdu in China’s southwestern Sichuan province, Cute Pet Games cafe, dyed a dog in black and white to mimic a panda cub, triggering a heated online debate over the treatment of animals.