China’s
boom-to-bust luxury landscape is strewn with devalued commodities like black
Audis, Omega watches, top-shelf sorghum liquor and high-rise apartments in
third-tier cities. Some are the victims of a slowing economy, while others are
casualties of an official austerity campaign that has made ostentatious
consumption a red flag for anticorruption investigators – this is totally
different ~and for no fault of its.
Of the so many
pets, dogs are considered to be very loyal.
There are many expressions associated with ‘dog’ ; still many of them
depict the mongrels derogatory. ‘Dog
days’ (Latin: diēs caniculārēs) are the hottest, most sultry days of
summer. There would however be
exceptions as the 18th month old rare Tibetan Mastiff dog named Yangtze enjoyed
! A Chinese
millionaire by name Wang visited the remote border region between Tibet and
western Qinghai province in Apr 11; she reportedly owned a Tibetan Mastiff
bitch and was in search of a mate, which reportedly was bought for £350,000 – a
whooping Rs. 3.28 crores at today’s exchange.
In many ways high breed dogs are considered ‘status symbols’too. Of course, experts will point out the price
is overbearing and not the market value !!
The expectation of
master from his dog is high ! - devoted dog; besotted owner. That continuous
loop of loving reinforcement may begin with the dog’s gaze, according to a new
report in Science. Japanese researchers
found that dogs who trained a long gaze on their owners had elevated levels of
oxytocin, a hormone produced in the brain that is associated with nurturing and
attachment, similar to the feel-good feedback that bolsters bonding between
parent and child. After receiving those long gazes, the owners’ levels of
oxytocin increased, too. The dog’s gaze
cues connection and response in the owner, who will reward the dog by gazing,
talking and touching, all of which helps solder the two, the researchers said.
That ‘costliest dog’
in news ~ ‘the Tibetan Mastiff’ is an ancient breed and type of large domestic
dog (Canis lupus familiaris) originating with nomadic cultures of Tibet, China,
Nepal, and India. The Tibetan Mastiff
also known as "Dok-Khyi" (translated as "nomad dog") ,
reflects its use as a guardian of herds, flocks, tents, villages, monasteries,
and palaces. Nomadic families have long
used mastiffs as nocturnal sentries against livestock thieves and marauding
wolves. A primitive breed with a deep guttural bark, they are inured to harsh
winters and the thin oxygen of the high-altitude grasslands; like wolves,
females give birth only once a year. “They have the power to fearlessly protect
possessions, human beings and livestock from any kind of threat, and people are
proud of them.” The name is a misnomer; it is not a true mastiff. The term
"mastiff" was used primarily because it meant "big dog".
Early Western visitors to Tibet misnamed several of its breeds: The
"Tibetan Terrier" is not a terrier and the "Tibetan Spaniel"
is not a spaniel.
Years
have passed by since – the traits, loyalty, food and other habits of the dogs
have not changed – but their values can and have changed !!! - from times when in frenzied heights of
China’s Tibetan mastiff craze, when a droopy-eyed slobbering giant like Nibble
might have fetched $200,000 and ended up roaming the landscaped grounds of some
coal tycoon’s suburban villa – have changed now !!
NY Times quotes the
tale of Nibble and 20 more unlucky mastiffs found themselves stuffed into metal
chicken crates and packed onto a truck with 150 other dogs. If not for a band
of Beijing animal rights activists who literally threw themselves in front of
the truck, Nibble and the rest would have ended up at a slaughterhouse in
northeast China where, at roughly $5 a head, they would have been rendered into
hot pot ingredients, imitation leather and the lining for winter gloves.
Nibble, a Tibetan
mastiff, was checked by veterinarians after being saved from the slaughterhouse
by a group of animal rights activists. Other rescued mastiffs had suffered
broken limbs. It is stated that these days, those mastiff breeders left in the
business are suffering from overcapacity, as it were. Buyers have largely
disappeared, and prices have fallen to a small fraction of their peak. The
average asking price for desirable dogs — those with lionlike manes and thick
limbs — is hovering around $2,000, [Rs.125000 approx] though many desperate
breeders are willing to go far lower.
Some of the breeders are even considering quitting the business as
keeping such carnivores properly fed
cost $50 to $60 a day. Since 2013,
about half the 95 breeders in Tibet have gone under, according to the Tibetan
Mastiff Association, and the once-flourishing Pure Breed Mastiff Fair in Chengdu,
in the southwestern province of Sichuan, has been turned into a pet and
aquarium expo.
In recent years, a
number of Chinese cities have banned the breed, further denting demand and
perhaps contributing to the surge in abandonments. The rescuers who saved
Nibble and the others from an ignominious fate said the conditions of the
transport were appalling. Animal rights
activists say many of the dogs are stolen by gangs who grab pets off the
street, while some have been sold off by breeders eager to unload imperfect
specimens.
During
her 25 years in China, Mary Peng, the founder and chief executive of the
International Center for Veterinary Services has seen successive waves of dog
fads, which invariably begin with speculative breeding and end in mass
abandonment. “Ten years ago, it was German shepherds, then golden retrievers,
then Dalmatians and then huskies,” she said. “But given the crazy prices we
were seeing a few years ago, I never thought I’d see a Tibetan mastiff on the
back of a meat truck.”
In
some ways, the cooling passion for Tibetan mastiffs reflects the fickleness of
a consuming class that adopts and discards new products with abandon. A professor at Nanjing Agricultural
University and an expert on Tibetan mastiffs is quoted as saying - speculators
were partly to blame for sabotaging what had been a healthy market. News stories about mastiffs attacking people,
some fatally, also dampened ardour for the breed. Although not inherently
vicious, Tibetan mastiffs are loyal to a fault, increasing the likelihood of
attacks on strangers, experts say.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
20th Apr
2015.
Source :
www.nytimes.com
No comments:
Post a Comment