A pet owner from China has sparked controversy after its owner dyed his 6 chow chow dogs to black and white with hopes of making them look like giant pandas.
Images of the 6 pandas in the shop, colored like baby pandas went viral and have received a lot of criticism from the public.
According to reports, the pandas were dyed with organic coloring.
The owner said, “Dyeing dogs to make them look like pandas is already very popular overseas.”
The owner added, “It’s controversial in China because it’s not commonly seen.”
It is reported that the Cute Pet Games, which is the café that colored the pandas, charges 1,500 yuan for each dog.
The café is situated in a mall in Chengdu, a provincial capital of Sichuan.
The café started to get criticized after the staff started to upload images and videos of dogs dyed like pandas.
Social media users slammed the Chinese café for abusing pet dogs.
PETA, an animal rights organization condemned the act of the pet café.
The spokesperson of PETA said, “Dyeing hair may be fashionable, but only for humans who willingly have it done. There are always risks with using dyes on animals, to their fur, skin, nose, and eyes.”
The spokesperson added, “Animals should not be a tool for people to paint.”
According to the owner of the pet café, the organic dye that they use does not cause any harm to the skin or hair of the dogs.
Huang, the owner of the pet café, said, “Our dye was imported from Japan and very expensive. A tube of dye alone costs 800 yuan (£87).”
Talking about the dogs, Mr. Huang said he bought the 6 panda dogs because Chengdu, the city where the shop is located, is known for having fluffy bears.
Huang said, “Although [the dogs] are not real pandas, we hope our customers can experience the [panda] culture in our shop.”
He continued, “The dye that was used on the dogs was tailor-made for them and 100 per cent safe. Therefore, we bought the dye and hired specialists to put them on the dogs.”
According to Huang, all the dogs that were dyed are healthy and happy.
Huang said if humans can make themselves beautiful, so should dogs.