A Dog’s Life in China as a Lion, or Panda, or ...

Just don’t feed me bamboo.

As reported in this Daily Mail article, it’s odd and tragic that a zoo in China’s Henan province has been caught defrauding its visitors by trying to pass off a dog (a Tibetan mastiff) as an African lion. When did visitors start getting suspicious? Was it as soon as they realized that the creature looked nothing like a real lion? No. When it started barking! The zoo has also been caught having common mongrels stand in for wolves and leopards, and sea cucumbers sloth in for snakes. Okay, in China, math 10, zoology 0.

 

China’s one percent have also been known to keep species-bending dogs as pets. As shown in some amazing picture in this Daily Beast article, they dress up their dogs as pandas, lions, Ninja turtles or tie-dyed hippies. Presumably, dogs, even the expensive breeds, as status symbols has grown rather banal for those humans looking for that extra edge of originality in their social status.

 

Is this animal abuse? It’s unclear, so long as bones and flesh are not being cut or broken or silicone implants embedded in the creatures. We don’t know how a dog’s self-esteem might be affected by such an extreme make over. Humans would no doubt be deeply distraught if presented as a species they are not. Unless it’s by choice, that is. Just ask any of your banker friends – the London Whale or the 800-pound gorilla.