More than 600 stray Tibetan mastiffs struggle to survive in a shelter in the Chinese province of Qinghai

Almaty. September 15. Silkroadnews – More than 600 stray Tibetan mastiffs were taken to a shelter in the Chinese province of Qinghai, China Daily reported.
“More than 600 stray Tibetan mastiffs are facing serious problems in a shelter in Nangqian county, Qinghai province, reported ynet.com on Thursday. These dogs need at least 425 kg flour per day and the number is growing while the shelter, which is co-funded by civil society and local government, is struggling to make the ends meet to feed the dogs,” report reads.
The publication says many owners abandoned their dogs leaving them on the streets to hunt cattle and even attack people to survive.
The agency suggests it is the market hype created for Tibetan mastiff years ago to blame for the current situation. Being greedy for grain people started breeding these dogs on a massive scale. The secretary-general of the Qinghai Association of Tibetan Mastiffs Zhou Yi said the cost of even a hybrid puppy of Tibetan mastiff was ranged from 30,000 yuan ($4,800) to 200,000 yuan.
Liu Mingyu, a Ph.D. student of Peking University studying the influence of stray dogs on the Tibetan ecosystem since 2015, said the price of puppies of Tibetan mastiff grew with each sale.
“But once the price went crazy, it's a matter of time before the market collapsed,” the agency quoted him saying.
It is reported that many breeders first began to abandon the hybrid cubs and then Tibetan bred dogs. As a result, the number of stray dogs in Nangqian was 8,201, while in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, it reached 130,000 in 2015.
To survive, Liu said, stray dogs hunt livestock near people’s yards, and when in packs they can even hunt bears and snow leopards.
According to the local customs the dogs are considered as treasure and people cannot euthanize them. In the meantime, the dogs gather together, mate and breed more dogs.
The shelter, as reported, was created to keep stray dogs away from people and feed them for the rest of their lives. However, due to the lack of financial support, the shelter may be closed, and the dogs may once again be left on the street.