10 Wrinkly Facts About the Shar-Pei

3. ONE MAN SAVED THEM.

Matgo Law, owner of Down-Home Kennels, bred and raised Shar-Pei. He resided in Hong Kong, which at the time was a British colony. Law feared that Hong Kong would rejoin China and fall victim to the country's harsh anti-dog restrictions.

He sent out a plea to the world to save the breed before it was wiped out entirely. “Who knows?” Law wrote in his plea. “If we can ship some of our dogs to your country they may some day become as popular as the Pekingnese or Chow Chow. We can only hope.”

Many people responded to the breeder’s plea, including the magazine LIFE. In 1979, the magazine ran an article about the dog and featured one on the cover. Suddenly, everyone wanted their own wrinkled pup. The rare dogs were bred in the United States and today they are the 57th most popular breed in the country.

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