Google – AFP, 19 March 2014
One of the
Tibetan mastiffs (L) was sold in China for almost $2 million, a
report said on
March 19, in what could be the most expensive dog sale ever (AFP)
|
Beijing — A
Tibetan mastiff puppy has been sold in China for almost $2 million, a report
said Wednesday, in what could be the most expensive dog sale ever.
A property
developer paid 12 million yuan ($1.9 million) for the one-year-old
golden-haired mastiff at a "luxury pet" fair Tuesday in the eastern
province of Zhejiang, the Qianjiang Evening News reported.
"They
have lion's blood and are top-of-the-range mastiff studs," the dog's
breeder Zhang Gengyun was quoted as telling the paper, adding that another red-haired
canine had sold for 6 million yuan.
Tibetan
mastiffs, such as this one pictured
April 6, 2012 at a dog show near Beijing,
have become a prized status symbol among
China's wealthy, sending prices
skyrocketing
(AFP/File, Mark Ralston)
|
The golden-haired
animal was 80 centimetres (31 inches) tall, and weighed 90 kilograms (nearly
200 pounds), Zhang said, adding that he was sad to sell the animals. Neither
was named in the report.
"Pure
Tibetan mastiffs are very rare, just like our nationally treasured pandas, so
the prices are so high," he said.
One red
mastiff named "Big Splash" reportedly sold for 10 million yuan ($1.5
million) in 2011, in the most expensive dog sale then recorded.
The buyer
at the Zhejiang expo was said to be a 56-year-old property developer from
Qingdao who hopes to breed dogs himself, according to the report.
The
newspaper quoted the owner of a mastiff breeding website as saying that last
year one animal sold for 27 million yuan at a fair in Beijing.
A Tibetan
mastiff dog is displayed for sale at a mastiff show in Baoding, Hebei
province,
south of Beijing on March 9, 2013 (AFP/File, Ed Jones)
|
But an
industry insider surnamed Xu told the paper that the high prices may be the
result of insider agreements among breeders to boost their dogs' worth.
"A lot
of the sky-high priced deals are just breeders hyping each other up, and no
money actually changes hands," Xu said.
Owners say
the mastiffs, descendants of dogs used for hunting by nomadic tribes in central
Asia and Tibet, are fiercely loyal and protective.
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