eijing (AFP) - A Tibetan mastiff puppy has been sold in China for almost $2

million, a report said Wednesday, in what could be the most expensive dog

sale ever.

A property developer paid 12 million yuan ($1.9 million) for the

one-year-old golden-haired mastiff at a "luxury pet" fair Tuesday in the

eastern province of Zhejiang, the Qianjiang Evening News reported.

"They have lion's blood and are top-of-the-range mastiff studs," the dog's

breeder Zhang Gengyun was quoted as telling the paper, adding that another

red-haired canine had sold for 6 million yuan.

Enormous and sometimes ferocious, with round manes lending them a passing

resemblance to lions, Tibetan mastiffs have become a prized status symbol

among China's wealthy, sending prices skyrocketing.

The golden-haired animal was 80 centimetres (31 inches) tall, and weighed 90

kilograms (nearly 200 pounds), Zhang said, adding that he was sad to sell

the animals. Neither was named in the report.

"Pure Tibetan mastiffs are very rare, just like our nationally treasured

pandas, so the prices are so high," he said.

One red mastiff named "Big Splash" reportedly sold for 10 million yuan ($1.5

million) in 2011, in the most expensive dog sale then recorded.

The buyer at the Zhejiang expo was said to be a 56-year-old property

developer from Qingdao who hopes to breed dogs himself, according to the

report.

The newspaper quoted the owner of a mastiff breeding website as saying that

last year one animal sold for 27 million yuan at a fair in Beijing.

But an industry insider surnamed Xu told the paper that the high prices may

be the result of insider agreements among breeders to boost their dogs'

worth.

"A lot of the sky-high priced deals are just breeders hyping each other up,

and no money actually changes hands," Xu said.

Owners say the mastiffs, descendants of dogs used for hunting by nomadic

tribes in central Asia and Tibet, are fiercely loyal and protective.

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