What may seem reasonable can fool you

San Francisco Chronicle/SF Gate/Katie Dowd, 7/6/15.  "Man takes two years to figure out his dogs are black bears."

Believe it! These Asian black bear dogs can say
in English, "our environment is our economy".

For one Chinese man, it took two years to decide that something was distinctly un-dog-like about Spot and Fido. Wang Kaiyu, a villager in the Chinese province of Yunnan, purchased two "puppies" while on a trip in Vietnam. He described them as "lively, not picky about food and friendly with humans."

After some time went by, he realized they were behaving "strangely," although the bears would probably beg to differ on that description. ....  He got in touch with a wildlife rescue center in Yunnan, which took in the two bears. They were determined to be in good health but possibly possessing an incurable fondness for Dog Chow."   Read more. 

Related articles.  Examiner.com/Top News, Long Island/Linsey Bald, 7/3/15."Man's 'puppies' are bears.."   .... "Kaiyu said he bought the “puppies” when they were very small from a Vietnam pet vendor whom he came across while planting banana trees on the border on China and Vietnam. The man assured Kaiyu the animals would grow up to be energetic, sociable dogs with a healthy appetite. At least that much was true. .... Good to know. Next time Mr. Kaiyu, try doing a little research on bears versus puppies (before you adopt a couple tabby cats that turn out to be Siberian tigers)."

Daily Mail/Poppy Danby and Edward Chow, 7/2/15, UK, "Un-bear-lievable! Pet owner is shocked..." "To begin with, Wang had no idea that there was anything unusual about his pets and he bathed and groomed them everyday. The proud owner also said that the cubs were very well behaved and had healthy appetites. Alarm bells only began ringing when the animals grew up, as alongside gaining a greater desire for food, the pair started looking less and less like dogs and weighed 100lbs each. They also displayed strange behaviour, such as killing and eating Wang's pet chickens."

Inquisitr.com/Odd News, 7/2/15, Man's Bears are pupies: unaware buyer duped into thinking cubs were dogs." First, as the "puppy" bear cubs aged, they looked less like canines. Second, the two pups’ weight ballooned to over 100 pounds. Third, they developed an appetite for his chickens. Finally, after two long years, when the man read materials about conservation, he realized the puppies were bears. And to make matters worse, the black bear cubs are on the endangered species list. Suddenly, the duped man had a quagmire: on the one hand, the pets he thought were puppy dogs were Asian black bears. On the other hand, Wang realized he was committing a crime. He consulted with family members, and they all reasoned the best thing to do was to turn over the animals to a local authority. The Forest Public Security Bureau took possession of the man’s puppies-turned-bears and began the process of trying to find a good home for the animals. Eventually, the Yunnan Wild Animal Rescue Center got involved to help with adoption. At this point, they are not likely candidates for entry into a wild habitat.

Note:  photograph from the related Inquisitr.com article above.

Posted by Kathy Meeh