a popular tool for bribing politicians in China. The breed’s value has soared in recent

years from several hundred Renminbi to millions of Renminbi. Rumor has it that bribing politicians

with Tibetan mastiffs is the most effective way to gain approval for local development

plans.

Since bribing authorities with money or expensive items is easy to track, bribing them with

Tibetan mastiff has become the most popular way to get the dirty jobs done. Authorities

are often attracted by the Tibetan mastiff’s uniqueness. According to a Tibetan mastiff

breeder in Qinghai surnamed Xi, owning Tibetan mastiff allows greedy businessmen or politicians

to expand their property to thousands of acres in size. According to another breeder surnamed

Ma, one of his clients even reduced a prisoner’s penalty from life in prison to 10 years after

bribing prison authorities with two Tibetan mastiffs.

Many people have started making money by becoming Tibetan mastiff breeders. Some even raise

their Tibetan mastiffs in air-conditioned rooms and feed them vitamins. However, the

growing number of Tibetan mastiff breeders has caused the value of Tibetan mastiff to

fall.