article_snippet.sent: Big beauty: Tibetan mastiffs can weigh 80kg .
article_snippet.sent: But Tibetan Mastiffs are now so unpopular in China Tibetan Mastiffs are being sent to slaughterhouses – and Tibetan Mastiffs meat put into cheap hotpots.
article_snippet.sent: Previously, wealthy businessmen would give Tibetan Mastiffs to officials in the hope of influencing wealthy businessmen decisions.
article_snippet.sent: Luo Yi, general manager of China's largest Tibetan Mastiff puppy farm, told People's Daily Online: 'The anti-corruption drive means people not daring to hand people out as gifts - nor would anyone take one as a gift.'
article_snippet.sent: Tibetan Mastiffs – which were traditionally used in Tibet to herd other animals and are known for other animals loyalty - can weigh up to 80kg.
article_snippet.sent: China's mastiff market collapse was revealed after animal-welfare workers rescued a group of the dogs that were being transported to a slaughterhouse.
article_snippet.sent: Rescuers said Rescuers found the 20 mastiffs in cramped cages.
article_snippet.sent: Mastiffs were recently found crammed into cages on Mastiffs way to a slaughterhouse like the dogs in this picture - taken on a motorway in the Chinese capital Beijing in 2009 .
article_snippet.sent: Mastiffs are also being stolen from the streets by ruthless gangs, who sell them to the slaughterhouses, say animal charities.
article_snippet.sent: Loyal: Tibetan mastiffs, like the one here, were originally used by people in Tibet to herd other animals .
article_snippet.sent: In their heyday: A visitor plays with one of the dogs at a Tibetan mastiff show in Shenyang city four years ago .
article_snippet.sent: Meanwhile, Chen Youjun a specialist in Tibetan mastiff photography, said: 'The rapid pace of urbanisation across China has made more and more people now realise Tibetan mastiffs are not animals well-suited to city living.'
article_snippet.sent: Mr Zhang said of Mr Zhang : 'the dogs have lion's blood and are top-of-the-range mastiff studs.'
highlights_snippet.sent: Tibetan Mastiffs had been status symbols for China's wealthiest .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: Tibetan Mastiffs were given as gifts to grateful officials by businessmen .
  