Latest victim of China’s crackdown on corruption: sales of ‘luxury’ dogs
Prices of Tibetan mastiffs have fallen about 35 per cent amid campaign against graft and wasteful official spending, according to breeder
Breeders of an expensive type of dog deemed a status symbol by China’s wealthy are the latest to feel the pinch amid the government’s crackdown on corruption and wasteful spending by officials, according to a newspaper report.
Prices of Tibetan mastiffs fell about 35 per cent in 2014 compared with the previous year, according to a report by the Tibetan Business News.
The newspaper quoted the vice director of the Tibetan Mastiff Association, Luo Yi, as saying that amid the fall in prices he was forced to cut the cost of providing dogs for breeding by half because of the drop in demand.
“Since the anti-corruption campaign there are almost no officials travelling here funded by their authorities,” he said.
“Most of tourists here spend money out of their own pocket and few of them would like to splash 10,000 yuan or more on buying a mastiff. Previously, some people bought the dog as a present, but it rarely happens now.”
Luo said the cost of a Tibetan mastiff still ran to several thousand yuan, but previously it was nearer 20,000 yuan (HK$25,000).
The report said that about a third of the people involved in selling the breed have left the industry because of the downturn.