看看宠物的七十二变

随着人们生活质量的不断提高，饲养宠物的市民也越来越多。有些经营宠物商店的商家，更是顺应人们的需要，为宠物设立SPA馆，并为宠物设计出各类不同造型、把宠物毛色洗染出不同效果，凭添不少生活乐趣。在韩国、日本风靡一时的技术，很快也在北京流传开来。这不，宠物SPA出来的宝贝们都变身为熊猫、乌龟……今年是虎年，因此狗假虎威的宠物也不在少数呢。

There is a booming trend in Beijing where more and more pet owners are starting to trim and dye their canines' coats in order for them to look cuter.

At the Ruowen Pet Spa in downtown Beijing, you can see the lovely turtle dog, the panda dog, even the zebra dog.

An Old English sheepdog who goes by the name Kung Fu, is just 10 months old. He was once well-known in his neighborhood for being a cute puppy. Now he's famous for his panda-like appearance.

His owner Queenie Yang took Kung Fu to the parlor to be dyed so he would look like China's most famous animal.

"Wherever he goes, people like him, especially children. They think he is a real panda," says Yang.

Kung Fu sits in Ruowen's spa, waiting for another bleach job on his grey fur, which is now a tan color.

His front and hind leg sections have been dyed black, his fur trimmed short and patches of hair on his head dyed are now black and fastened with elastics to look like panda ears.

Sun Ruowen owns the spa. She's worked in the pet industry for 10 years, but only opened this business in May.

She says she is catering to dog owners' dreams: they cannot own a panda, but they at least can have a dog that looks like one.

"People think dogs are cute when they are dyed like this. After all pandas and tigers are rare, so if pet owners have dogs that look like them, they are satisfied."

Dyeing pets is popular in more developed countries such as Japan and Korea, and in China the trend is quickly catching on, according to Sun.

Critics say the new trend is inhumane as the dogs are sometimes forced to undergo hours of unnecessary dyeing.

At this animal hospital in central Beijing, they prefer the dogs to be all natural.

Tian Haiyan is deputy director of the center.

"Dyes of bad quality could hurt the pets' skin; their skin could be burned, it could start itching and hurt pigmentation. Besides, dyes can affect their whole body if they inhale the fumes. If they lick these dyes, their digestive tract will be harmed, and in some cases they could even die," she says.

Back at the dog parlor, Sun says her products are completely natural and the whole process is nothing more than an innocent dress-up session.

Sun says the pampered pooches and their owners are just looking for new ways to groom their dogs, and have some fun in the process.

"All the dyes we are using were imported from Japan. The dyes are extracts from people's make-up, such as lipstick. It is safe for people to lick them, let alone for dogs to have them applied on their hair, it's absolutely not harmful for the dogs to lick the dyes."

This year, which is the Year of the Tiger in China, has seen a jump in the dyeing trend, with tigers being the most requested look.