Circus pandas turn out to be dogs wearing makeup
AN ITALIAN circus owner has been caught by police charging visitors to take pictures of two pandas that turned out to be dogs covered in makeup.
The two chow chow dogs were allegedly paraded before visitors to the Orfei circus in Brescia after being painted to give them black patches around their eyes. The ruse was spotted by a group of animal rights activists who attended a show.
Police were called and discovered the dogs, which had been imported from Hungary, were also travelling with fake documents which misstated their age. The circus owner is now being investigated for mistreating animals and deception.
Vets who examined the dogs said they were in good condition, although suffering from watery eyes, possibly due to so many people taking their photo using flash photography.
The chow chow breed hails from China and is thought to be descended from wolves. It has been reported that teddy bears were modelled on Queen Victoria’s chow chow puppy.