'Pandas' at Chinese zoo are chow chow dogs in disguise

May 9 (UPI) -- A Chinese zoo is being criticized online after visitors complained the animals in a "panda" exhibit aren't bears at all -- they're painted chow chow dogs.

Visitors to the Taizhou Zoo in Jiangsu Province said they were surprised to discover the so-called "panda dogs" that went on display May 1 are dogs with their fur trimmed and dyed to closely resemble the iconic Chinese bears.

A zoo spokesman explained the zoo put the dogs on display because it does not have any resident pandas, but he denied the fur dying process was in any way dangerous or harmful to the canines.

A zoo employee told state-run media outlet The Global Times that the "panda dogs" aren't meant to be deceptive, as signage posted at the enclosure explains they are chow chows in disguise.