Japanese fooled in poodle scam

Friday April 27, 2007

Thousands of Japanese have been swindled in a scam in which they were sold Australian and British sheep and told they were poodles.

Flocks of sheep were imported to Japan and then sold by a company called Poodles as Pets, marketed as fashionable accessories, available at $1,600 each.

That is a snip compared to a real poodle which retails for twice that much in Japan.

The scam was uncovered when Japanese moviestar Maiko Kawamaki went on a talk-show and wondered why her new pet would not bark or eat dog food. She was crestfallen when told it was a sheep.

Then hundreds of other women got in touch with police to say they feared their new "poodle" was also a sheep.

One couple said they became suspicious when they took their "dog" to have its claws trimmed and were told it had hooves.

Japanese police believe there could be 2,000 people affected by the scam, which operated in Sapporo and capitalised on the fact that sheep are rare in Japan, so many do not know what they look like.

"We launched an investigation after we were made aware that a company were selling sheep as poodles," Japanese police said, the The Sun reported.

"Sadly we think there is more than one company operating in this way.

"The sheep are believed to have been imported from overseas - Britain, Australia."

Many of the sheep have now been donated to zoos and farms.

©AAP 2007

I did a search before, checking if this had been done and .........

Did you mean: Japanese food in poodle scam

Was the answer in so many way’s.

Off to bed with you now.

Naka.

Would be an easy scam to spot methinks, based on the fact that sheep don't usually stand on their back legs, do silly tricks, and yap a lot.

.... And a poodle is a crap shag.

This is too funny.

Poodle scam story a hoax

Friday Apr 27 13:00 AEST

Police in Japan have denied knowledge of a scam where rich Japanese women who wanted a poodle as a pet were deceived into buying sheep.

English newspaper The Sun reported earlier today that Australian sheep had been sold to rich women as poodles by a company in Sapporo, Japan...................................................

..................Details about Kawakami's statement also appear to have been misreported. Japanese-language blogs about Kawakami say the movie star actually told a story about a friend who bought a sheep instead of a poodle at a pet shop.

Kawakami told the story on the Fuji Television show Gokigenyou. She said her friend took the "poodle" to a vet, who then asked her, "you think this is a poodle"?

Tall stories are common on Japanese talk shows and their authenticity is not carefully checked............

Continued here http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=263447

Item on CNN this morning said it was an urban legend.

It did not happen.

D.D.

Well it DID happen in my mind and it was hilarious!!!! Don't bring me down with your intrusion concerning "reality".

I think April Fools Day must come on the 27th in Japan

Same urban legend here in Thailand!

They sold crocodiles as alligators!

I mean how dumb can you be?

looks like the wool got pulled over their eyes