Dogs confiscated after circus owners paint them to look like pandas

SUED THE OWNER OF THE SPECIMENS FOR FALSE DOCUMENTATION, SEIZED THE TWO DOGS Two puppies, one male and one female from the white coat, belonging to the breed chow chow , were made ??up and dressed as pandas and exhibited to the public, especially children, to take pictures for a fee. It happened regularly before the shows, in a circus encamped itinerant which in this case was to stop in Brescia. To put an end to this practice of exploitation was the State Forestry Corps, spoke with the staff of the Investigative Unit for Crimes in Damage to Animals (NIRDA) and Command Station Brescia, assisted by veterinary staff. The puppies were seized and, for the moment, left at the property with the absolute prohibition of prolonging their performances. The investigations carried out showed that the documents shown by the circus for the two specimens were two false passports. The dogs, which appear to have been imported from Hungary, had a definitely less than the stated age of about six months. From the veterinary checks the dogs are in good health even if they show a marked watery eyes probably aggravated by the constant flashes the flash to which they were exposed. The owner was sued for use of false documents but investigations of Forestry are in full swing to shed light on the possible component of mistreatment and the actual origin of the puppies, as well as the assumption of fraud against the spectators. — a happy chap, but definitely NOT a panda (Picture: Corpo Forestale dello Stato)

If you attended a circus in Italy recently to see some pandas you might have been a little disappointed – probably because the ‘pandas’ were just painted dogs.

Police seized several of the ‘pandas’ from a circus in Brescia, Italy, after locals paid to pose with the animals, only to discover they were clearly dogs.

Although the dogs were healthy when police raided the circus, they were said to have ‘watery eyes’, which may have resulted from the camera flashes they were subjected to all day as duped customers mistook them for pandas.

The circus is being charged with animal cruelty and falsifying the dogs’ passports.

A circus in Italy has been closed after trying to pass off two dogs as pandas http://t.co/arCuOX6yhl pic.twitter.com/q6R1IvOoez

— Rebecca (@bookworm1979) December 23, 2014

Italian circus busted for disguising dogs as pandas on.rt.com/tq6aq8 http://t.co/tbanKoNyms—
RT (@RT_com) December 24, 2014

Italian circus busted painting dogs black & white to disguise them as pandas http://t.co/6EgANVCoGS pic.twitter.com/ArZ0a9bz2J

— RT (@RT_com) December 24, 2014

Despite painting them to look like the endangered oriental bears, the circus owners say they would never hurt their dogs.

The circus secretar, Riccardo Gravina reportedly told IBTimes: ‘No animal was mistreated. They are like children to us.’

He also claimed the circus could not be accused of misleading the public because it was ‘obvious they are dogs’.

Just in case you need reminding what a real panda looks like…