Personally, I am of the opinion that golden retrievers are the best dogs going. However, I am aware that some misguided people feel otherwise. That’s cool. For instance, a Chinese real estate developer just paid $2 million for a Tibetan mastiff, the breed of dog favored by Genghis Kahn when he was conquering Asia and Europe. Wait, WHAT?!?!
Reports the Washington Post:
More expensive than the 2011 sale of a red mastiff named Big Splash, which cost $1.6 million, Tuesday’s transaction might just make this dog the most expensive of all time, AFP says.
The buyer, an unnamed 56-year-old property developer from Qingdao, dropped a whopping 12 million yuan on the dog on Tuesday, and the dog’s breeder was overjoyed. For reporters on Tuesday, he laid it on thick. His dogs “have lion’s blood and are top-of-the-range mastiff studs. Pure Tibetan mastiffs are very rare, just like our nationally treasured pandas, so the prices are so high.”
In 2010, the Associated Press called the breed the “dog of the moment.” Its ownership has come to symbolize wealth and status as much as a new car or an ostentatious mansion.
“I used to invest in German shepherds, but Tibetan mastiffs are what’s hot right now,” business owner Sui Huizheng, who owns 20 of the dogs, told the AP.
Here’s an Animal Planet video I found on the Tibetan mastiff. Look at that monster! Can you imagine having to pick up its giant poops?!
And can you imagine how much this thing must shed in the summer? I’ll keep my golden I got from a rescue for $150, thank you very much.