An Italian circus is facing accusations of misleading its customers after it was claimed it was using certain animals and pretending they were something altogether different. 

Pandas may well be somewhat rare, but most of us would probably imagine that we could tell the difference between one of these bears and dogs. However, it seems to be a harder task than it might appear at face value, with Orfei Circus having been accused of using two chow chows disguised as pandas. 

The Italian show is facing criminal charges for the deception, after police pounced on its premises in the city of Brescia and confiscated the two chow chow dogs. The two white-furred dogs had apparently been painted with an array of black patches in the hope that customers could be fooled into thinking they were actually pandas. 

"Two white furred dog cubs, a male and a female of chow chow breed, were camouflaged as pandas and shown to the public, particularly children, to take photos demanding payment," Italy's state forestry police said, according to the International Business Times.

APP chairman Fabrizio Catell said, according to Elite Daily said that it was completely unacceptable for a circus to be "ridiculing" animals for the enjoyment of the public, while he also went on to say that once volunteers got close, it was rather obvious that the animals were not bears at all and were clearly dogs. 

Apparently it was also obvious to some members of the public, and reports claim that anyone who questioned how legitimate the bears were have simply been told that they are some sort of impossible hybrid between dogs and bears. 

The dogs were said to be in a good state of health at the time they were seized, aside from the fact they were covered in black paint. It's also believed that the circus may face charges for the falsification of documentation relating to the import of the two dogs from Hungary. ADNFCR-2867-ID-801767529-ADNFCR

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