Tibetan Mastiffs: a risky, ferocious status symbol

After Li Yongfu amassed a fortune in the aluminum industry, he decided to start a new business: a Tibetan Mastiff breeding farm in Langfang, a small city on the southeast outskirts of Beijing.

His farm is home to 30 mastiff hounds and his top dog, a three-year-old canine he bought for 8 million yuan (1.3 million U.S. dollars) from a Tibetan Mastiff breeding farm in east China's Anhui Province, is now worth twice the price he paid.

Niuliu stands 76 cm tall and weighs 75 kilograms. He feeds on quality beef and, occasionally, on a rare caterpillar fungus that is twice as expensive as gold and is believed to work as a panacea.

A breeding session with Niuliu can cost more than 100,000 yuan, and breeders have poured in from across the country in hopes of getting pups of his pedigree.

Earlier this year, a pup of Niuliu's pedigree was sold for a record 15 million yuan.

While top puppies -- which account for about 10 percent of total newborn dogs -- are almost always bought by breeders, the others are often sold as pets or guardians for the country's nouveau riche.

When Li opened the multi-billion yuan Liangjian Mastiff Breeding Farm earlier this year, he learned that the dogs had become a status symbol for China's new rich, whose wealth is spreading beyond real estate and luxury cars.

"If you are rich, you can easily buy a big house or a Lamborghini," he said. "But owning a purebred mastiff is quite another thing. It's solid evidence of your wealth, power and taste, and makes a most presentable gift for your clients and partners."

The lion-like animal is considered a symbol of fortune. A purebred can be brown, black or black with specks of brown on the nose, eyebrows and legs. But reddish brown is the most coveted color, because the Chinese believe red is auspicious.

At Li's farm, passersby are told to admire the dogs from afar because they're hostile to strangers -- a good trait for the guardians of flocks of sheep and horses and herders on the Tibetan plateau.

Cases of Tibetan Mastiff pets attacking family members, visitors and passersby are occasionally reported in Chinese cities and often lead to serious injuries and even deaths. In several cases, police have been forced to shoot ferocious dogs.

COOL PETS, LUCRATIVE TRADE

The shaggy, lion-like mastiff, native to southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region and neighboring Qinghai Province, is known for its loyal but fierce disposition.

The breed, widely used as shepherds and watchdogs by Tibetan herders, has become increasingly popular in the country's interior since the 1990s, but not only recently have many people been able to afford to buy and care for the breed.

"Mastiff owners often fall into three groups: business tycoons, gang leaders and movie stars," said Li.

China has 1,926 A-class purebred Tibetan Mastiffs bred at 308 registered breeding centers, according to figures provided by the China Animal Agriculture Association's National Kennel Club (CNKC).

Fifty-two of the breeding centers are located on the outskirts of Beijing, and many are run by avid dog lovers.

Retired track coach Ma Junren became fascinated with the mastiffs when he was training female distance runners on the Tibetan plateau in the late 1980s. He now owns some of China's best-known and most expensive purebred mastiffs and is chairman of a non-governmental Tibetan Mastiff club.

Two years ago, Beijing resident Ren Liyong brought two mastiff pups back with him from a trip to Qinghai. In four months, his pets became so big and scary that his neighbors would call police at the very sight of them.

Ren was forced to build the dogs a home in the countryside and he eventually expanded his doghouse into a mastiff farm with 17 hounds, mostly from Qinghai's Yushu County.

In just the past two months, his seven male mastiffs have earned him 1 million yuan in breeding services.

Rags-to-riches stories are often told among mastiff breeders. Tseten Tashi was a penniless herder in Yushu when he swapped a goat and saddle for a mastiff from a local monastery in 2004. The purebred was later recognized as the "king mastiff" and yielded several billion yuan in profits.

"His success story has inspired many herders to raise mastiffs. Today, mastiff farms are seen everywhere in Yushu," said Megar, the president of Yushu's mastiff breeding association.

Yushu is one of China's major mastiff breeding bases, in addition to Tibet's Tsomey and Nagchu counties. The industry that burgeoned in the 1990s now employs hundreds of thousands of Tibetans.

Last year, the industry generated about 100 million yuan in revenue, mainly in the mastiff trade and breeding services.