A circus in Italy tried to make a quick buck by painting some Chow Chow puppies to look like pandas.
The circus painted the ears and the backs of the puppies to make it look as though they were pandas, and assumed that no one would tell the difference, least of all the kids who were hoping to get a picture with the cute animals.
The circus charged them to take pictures withe the "pandas", until the police stepped in and took the animals from the circus. Below, you can see a picture of what they were painted to look like, while above in the main image, you can see what a Chow Chow looks like when not disguised as a panda.
pic via corpoforestale.it
Fabrizio Catelli, chairman of the Animal Protection Party group said that "we believe it’s unacceptable to ridicule animals for entertainment and profit", and that the police had taken the animals, who had been imported from Hungary, away from the circus and shut it down.
The two dogs seem to be in good health, however, which is good news, and the owner of the circus has apparently been arrested on charges of animal cruelty.
Via BuzzFeed