£30,000 Offered For World’s Rarest ‘Designer Dog’
Bengal Chihuahua in High Demand
AUTHOR, Sean O’Meara, Managing Editor, K9 Magazine
So-called ‘designer dogs’ have been a rapidly growing fashion accessory for pet loving celebrities over recent years and now a new trend has seen demand for catchily-titled ‘breeds’ such as ‘Puggles’ (Beagles crossed with Pugs), ‘Jackadoodles’ (Jack Russels crossed with Poodles) and ‘Porkies’ (Yorkshire Terriers crossed with Pomeranians), increase throughout the UK. One designer dog in particular though has caused a bigger stir than most, attracting a staggering £30,000 offer from one devoted fancier. The problem is, no amount of money could buy this much sought after breed because it doesn’t even exist.
2006 is the Chinese year of the dog and to mark the occasion, a British dog magazine began the year by breaking a world exclusive story detailing the discovery of the ‘world’s rarest breed of dog’ called the Bengal Chihuahua.
K9 Magazine reported the origins of this highly unusual canine-crossbreed could be traced back to the 1920’s where an experimental American dog breeder had accidentally stumbled upon the secrets to creating an authentically striped dog which carried similar marking to that of a Bengal Tiger. The feature also speculated that the dog’s distinctive markings could even somehow be the result of tiger blood being introduced to the line somewhere in the past resulting in an incredible looking, distinctive highbred canine.
Whilst the story appeared farcical and scarcely believable on the surface, the publishers at K9 Magazine were amazed to discover the high level of interest from people keen to own the ultimate designer dog. They even followed the story up by publishing details of the very first litter of Bengal Chihuahuas to be born in the UK.
Surprise turned to utter disbelief when the first of several offers began to arrive on the desk of K9 Magazine’s editor, Ryan O’Meara, culminating in an astonishing £30,000 bid being made from one South African dog breeder who was so keen to secure a Bengal Chihuahua he even offered to transfer a deposit of £10,000 to the UK within 24 hours.
As news of the ultra-rare designer dog began to spread, more and more fashion conscience dog lovers enquired as to how they could purchase one of the Bengal Chihuahua puppies, resulting in more than 300 would-be owners getting in touch with K9 Magazine and The UK Dog Breeder Directory (
www.breederdirectory.co.uk/bengals) who had teamed up to publish exclusive details of the new litter as well as a history of the breed and a photograph of the puppies stunningly striped Mother. (IMAGE ATTACHED)
The ever growing list of suitors hoping to become a Bengal Chihuahua owner were eventually left disappointed though, as it was revealed that no such breed ever existed and in fact the whole story was an elaborate hoax designed to highlight the growing demand for designer dog breeds in the UK and around the world.
The scheme was in fact devised by K9 Magazine and The UK Dog Breeder Directory who between them, hoped to highlight a growing hunger from the public to own the latest ‘designer dogs’, an appetite they believed was being fed by a small section of unscrupulous dog breeders intent on creating unusual cross-bred dogs with ‘catchy’ names in order to sell the offspring for large profits.
No one expected the wave of offers that flooded in from people determined to acquire one of the fantasy striped dogs. The fact that such a large demand existed with a ‘money no object’ attitude to support it, proved the point they were trying to make.
Designer dogs have been big news in recent years with celebrities such as Paris Hilton creating a demand for ‘Teacup Chihuahuas’ and a huge interest in Puggles, a ‘breed’ which hardly anyone had heard of just 12 months ago, sweeping the Internet and overtaking interest in established breeds such as the Queen’s favourite, The Corgi which have seen a rapid decline over the past two decades and are now considered endangered by The Kennel Club.
K9 Magazine’s editor-in-chief, Ryan O’Meara comments:
“We were taken aback by the amount of interest and money that some people are prepared to pay for something that is quite clearly a designer dog.
It’s especially concerning when literally thousands of needy dogs are without homes living in animal shelters up and down the country.
We have no issue with the need to be inventive when it comes to dog breeding in order to keep a breed healthy and the creation of new dog breeds such as the Labradoodle has been positive.
However, there is a feeling that with the increase in popularity of these so-called ‘fancy breeds’ or designer dogs, certain individuals seem to want to market dogs as fashionable commodities and they give them elaborate names purely make them stand out or seem unique and desirable.
The aim of creating the Bengal Chihuahua was to highlight just how far some people are prepared to go to own something seen as rare or in high fashion.”
