Circus dyed two chow-chow dogs’ hair to pass them off as pandas

Italy – The owner of an Italian travelling circus has been charged with the use of false documents after it was discovered that two pandas in his show were, in fact, chow chow puppies that had been dyed.

A spokeswoman for the forestry corps, which in Italy deals with many of the offences involving animals, said audience members were encouraged to pay to have their photograph taken with the fake pandas.

“It happened regularly before the start of the show,” she said.

The circus was visiting Brescia near Milan when the ruse was uncovered. Forest rangers, including members of the corps’ investigative unit, raided the circus accompanied by vets. More