- cross-posted to:
- andfinally@feddit.uk
- cross-posted to:
- andfinally@feddit.uk
cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/11618175
Zoo defends ‘panda’ exhibit after criticism for using dogs dyed black and white
On May 1, the zoo drew large crowds of excited animal lovers as it prepared to unveil a new attraction.
When the zoo revealed the animals, visitors were met with the sight of little four-legged creatures, with white faces and black spots around their eyes and ears - not unlike the colorings of a panda.
The only thing is, these creatures weren’t pandas. In fact, they were Chow Chows - a dog you might recognize from real life or social media, since they’re very much the opposite of a wild animal.
The spitz-type dogs originally come from northern China, and were presented at the zoo because the owners said they didn’t have any actual pandas to show visitors.
The owners were accused of trimming and dying the dogs to look like pandas, causing some backlash as locals accused the zoo of animal cruelty.
However, a spokesperson for the zoo hit back at the criticism as they pointed out that ‘people also dye their hair’.
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What if they just had an entire zoo where every animal was just a dog with dyed fur
I went to such a zoo recently. The only animal they had was a dog. It was a Shih Tzu.
Fuck off, that’s great
… angry upvote moment! Made me chuckle.
Honestly, I’d be down for that. I love dogs
Honestly probably less cruel than keeping pandas in a cage. Dogs are domesticated and kinda used to having their freedom of movement restricted.
And honestly they’re fucking adorable like that.
Yea, dishonest sure, but animal cruelty is a bit of a stretch. Especially if they used appropriate animal dye and didn’t just grab a couple cans of spray paint from Lowe’s or something
It’s a shady zoo in China… I’m pretty confident they didn’t use animal-approved hair dye hahaha
Dogs can be caged because we enslaved their ancestors and restricted their reproductive choices for milennia? If we bred cows that wanted to be eaten, would that make their meat ethical? If you believe that, I’ve got a restaurant at the end of the universe to sell you.
I didnt say it that its not cruel to cage dogs. I said its less cruel than caging a panda because they are more used to it.
I dont know if its fair to call it that, but dogs are probably still pretty “sad” about sitting inside doing nothing all day, especially when they are alone. If you have ever lived with a farm dog that was free to go out and wherever it wants 24/7 by itself, then indoor “incarcerated” dogs will seem like an empty shell to you.
Upvote for the hitchhikers guide reference!!!
I don’t know how accurate enslaving wolves is, though. It very well could have been a mutually beneficial relationship at the beginning.
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It’s a mutually beneficial relationship now, assuming responsible ownership. And excluding brachycephalic breeds, other predictable and preventable genetic illnesses or predispositions to injury, and other stuff that could reasonably be lumped into “responsible ownership” but deserve special recognition.
But yeah, dogs are happy as shit when they get to do the thing’s we’ve bred them to do.
“We have 🐼 at home”
The irony of this being in China…
I went to the zoo but it sucked, they had only one exhibit and it was of a dog.
It was a shitzu.
Lucky! I went and all they had was a piece of shitzhu
I haven’t even read the article but I’m pretty sure it’s in China.
Not even the 1-sentence summary that said its in China?
Which 1 sentence summary? Am I blind?
Are you viewing on the Lemmy website directly or an app?
On the website and most apps, it’s the short section just under the post title.
I’m using Sync for Lemmy. I’m guessing it’s a different summary than the multi sentence summary I can see under the title post. That one doesn’t specify this happens in China.
Which is a special kind of ironic since China withdrew all their pandas from American zoos due to trade ‘wars’ (i.e. Tariffs in some goods) including the fantastic program at the San Diego zoo.
If they did this on April 1st t would be a hilarious prank.
Look when a Chinese zoo actually has the animals there and not just dyed dogs, then that will be news worthy, like at least twice a year a Chinese zoo gets called out for using dogs instead of the proper animals.
