Panda-Dog Cafe in Chengdu: A Unique Experience

There are dozens of animal cafes around China—places where you can sip tea and hang out with cats, owls, or raccoons. However, there’s only one where you can interact with “pandas.”

A cafe owner in Chengdu dyed his six Chow Chow dogs to resemble giant pandas, according to the Chengdu Economic Times. The six “panda-dogs” roam the cafe and approach customers as they enjoy their meals.

The Cute Pet Games Cafe opened in Chengdu last month, becoming home to several panda bases and breeding centers. Consequently, one cafe owner decided to capitalize on the region’s biggest tourist attractions by offering a service where dog owners can have their pets dyed to resemble China’s national mascot.

“It costs 1,500 Chinese yuan ($212) to dye a pet each time,” the owner, surnamed Huang, stated in the video. He mentioned that the cafe has a dedicated team of dyers, and the dye quality ensures it won’t harm the animals’ skin or hair. Moreover, it takes staff about one day to transform a Chow Chow into a panda, according to the Hindu Times.

However, several animal rights groups have protested this practice, asserting that dyeing animals’ fur is unethical. Furthermore, a veterinarian, Li Daibing, advised against dyeing pets, claiming that “this could damage their fur and skin.” Several commenters on the Chinese social network Weibo echoed these concerns.

As a consequence of the online backlash, the cafe announced that it would no longer offer the dyeing service, according to The Guardian. In a statement on Weibo, the cafe expressed, “As their owners, their lives are much better than ours. They are also very healthy. Netizens please don’t project your thoughts onto us.”