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On this episode of China Uncensored, who let the dogs out... of the truck so they wouldn't become dog meats?
Hi, welcome to China Uncensored, I'm your host Chris Chappell.
So brace yourself I'm about to show you the cutest thing ever!
That cute little fellow is Nibble, a Tibetan Mastiff.
They were all the rage in China few years ago,
a veritable status symbol along with black Audis and the terrible terrible rubbing-alcohol-like liquor they call 白酒.
People would spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for these Tibetan Mastiffs.
According to the New York Post, one Chinese businessman spent 1.9 million dollars for a single dog.
At the peak of the massive craze in 2013, according to the Tibetan Mastiff Association,
there were 95 breeders churning out pets to fill China's insatiable appetite for Tibetan Mastiffs.
But unfortunately like any bubble, it's now burst.
Now only half of the 95 breeders are still in business.
The rest have gone bankrupt.
And so what happens to the dogs?
Well, at least some still have an insatiable appetite for Tibetan Mastiffs since Nibble nearly became Chinese hotpot.
Nibble was part of a truck full a Tibetan Mastiffs and other breeds.
They were on their way to be slaughtered for their meat and fur.
And they were only going for about five dollars ahead.
So how could all this happen?
Well, part the problem is just how insane the Tibetan massive craze was.
Not only where people paying ridiculous sums of money for them
but it also became a get-rich-quick scheme.
Some dogs were pumped full of silicone by their owners to make them look bigger and more impressive
so the dogs could be sold at higher prices to would be owners as well as breeders.
Now believe it or not, that's not healthy for the animal.
In 2013 a man sued a Beijing Animal Clinic for 140,000 dollars after the dog died during a facelift surgery.
But there were also other problems.
For instance, Tibetan Mastiffs are well adapted to the snowy mountains of the Himalayas
and are used by nomads to defend their livestock because one Tibetan Mastiff can kill several wolves,
but they're not so suited to, say a small city apartment.
There were a few instances of them killing people not because masses are vicious
but because they are so intensely loyal and protective and they don't take kindly to strangers.
Combine that with the fact that many cities in China including Beijing have banned large dog breeds
and so this massive craze was doomed
which is how Nibble found himself loaded onto a truck with other dogs on their way to becoming hotpot.
The condition in the truck were terrible.
They haven't been fed or given water.
Many had broken limbs and a third of them died.
The only reason Nibble was saved was because Chinese animal rights activists intercepted the truck and used their own money to buy the dogs.
China still has a long way to go on animal rights.
Unregistered dogs are beaten to death sometimes in front of their owners
as was the case with this little guy, one-eyed Jack.
Then there's the infamous Yulin dog meat eating festival.
But pet ownership in China is skyrocketing
and with it receiving more and more animal rights activists.
In August 2014 truck loads of dogs were spotted in the northeastern city of Tangshan
They were most likely on the way to be slaughtered
and they're most likely stolen since many more still wearing collars.
Using social media to coordinate, hundreds of dog lovers blocked the trucks and rescued more than 2000 dogs.
And even though Chinese animal rights activists have been unable to shut down the Yulin dog meat eating festival,
many have used their own money to buy as many dogs as they could
because how could we let someone nibble on Nibble.
So, what do you think about the Tibetan Mastiff craze?
Leave your comments below and be sure to subscribe for more China Uncensored.
Once again I'm Chris Chappell, see you next time.