The Global Times reporter found some online shops on China's largest e-commerce platform, Taobao, selling face masks "designed" for dogs and their prices ranged from 30 to 200 yuan ($4.3-$29).
One shop assistant told the Global Times that they have two kinds of face masks - one is disposable and designed for small dogs like the bulldog; and the other is made of nylon and can be used for long periods.
"Owners can train their dogs to wear them by awarding them with some snacks and the face masks should be removed as soon as possible if dogs have problems breathing," said the shop assistant.
"There are no filtered face masks specifically for dogs and some of them cannot wear face masks designed for humans," Zhang Xu, a veterinarian and owner of a pet clinic in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, told the Global Times. He suggested that owners should try to limit outdoor activities if possible.
Ye has even taken his dog to Chengde, a city in northeast Hebei Province which many Beijing residents visit to escape the smog in December.
While Tuotuo's owner, who chose to stay in Beijing, took her three bulldogs to an underground garage whenever smog struck in the city.
Heightened risk
Heavy air pollution can cause coughs and respiratory tract infections in dogs and cats, Zhang said, adding that there are no statistics showing a heightened risk of lung cancer among pets due to their relatively short lifespan and reduced exposure to air pollution compared to humans.
However, dogs and cats are more sensitive to the smog than humans are since the amount of air they inhale with each breath is about 10 to 15 milliliters per kilogram of body weight while humans take in around 5 to 10 milliliters per kilogram, said Zhao Tianxu from a Beijing-based pet hospital. He treated more pets for coughs and other respiratory diseases last winter than in previous years.
Aside from wearing masks and reducing outdoor activities, some owners have tried to boost their pets' immune systems to better protect their companions.
Small pollution particles that are inhaled into animals' lungs are fought against by the body's immune system.
Wang Hong, the owner of two dogs and a pet nutritionist, makes soup with fritillaria cirrhosa flowers for her dogs and feeds them soup made from the tremella fungi every day.
These supposedly medicinal soups cost Wang several thousand yuan but she thinks that these pricey concoctions are not sufficient to protect dogs that she treats like her own children. Wang bought a villa in the north of Beijing and moved in with her two dogs to flee the smoggy downtown in winter.
Fritillaria cirrhosa and tremella are believed to enhance the functions of the lung and help expel toxins in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Tuotuo's owner also said that she also adds nutrients to her dogs' food to enhance their health. However, an owner from a Beijing-based dog breeding center surnamed Yang told the Global Times that foods or ingredients that are believed to be good for humans may not work on for dogs.
"Dogs have a different digestive system and pears (also believed to help the respiratory system) or tremella would have no effect on them. And owners should also know that some foods may be harmful for dogs," said Yang. He noted that he can do nothing to protect the dogs besides locking them inside when air pollution hits. "We humans known little about protecting ourselves, let alone dogs."
Wang says living in a villa far away from the polluted city downtown gives her and her dogs more time to enjoy the precious clean air.
But it did not mean they were immune to all air pollution. When the whole city was totally besieged by smog - a new bout of smog came on February 15 when the PM 2.5 index hit 288 - Wang had to keep the two dogs inside and wait for a cold front blow into town to dispel the smog.
