Pooch Scam!!

[blink]

Pet pooch scam is baa-king mad

Sheep sold as poodles for $1600 each
Film star wonders why new pet won't bark
Couple suspicious when told their dog "had hooves"

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 marketed as fashionable accessories - available at $1600 each - by a company called Poodles as Pets.

A real poodle retails for twice that much in Japan.

The scam was uncovered when Japanese film star 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.

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.

Police believe there could be 2000 people affected by the scam.

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Obviously I feel for the people who got scammed, but full marks to the scammers for coming up with such a brilliant scam!

Anyone else have any scam stories??

[MightyEagles]

You would have thought that when you looked at the animal, that it didn't look like a dog.

[smac]

And we all just used our dog puns on the other thread.

BAAA HUMBUG.

[smac]

You would certainly feel SHEEPISH if you bought into this and had the WOOL pulled over your eyes...

[Booney]

You would certainly feel SHEEPISH if you bought into this and had the WOOL pulled over your eyes...

Ewe are crazy!

[zipzap]

[Booney]

I really did LOL,my work mates are looking with the WTF? look......

[Aerie]

Great story

[JK]

Think of how much better their meals are going to taste though

[therisingblues]

Well, that's got me stumped. Which is which?

[BenchedEagle]

Think of how much better their meals are going to taste though

Classic

[therisingblues]

Think of how much better their meals are going to taste though

If they ship the alleged Pooches to Korea perhaps, I think the fish is still going to taste the same here.

[RustyCage]

I dont believe how stupid some people can be!

[blink]

The scam was uncovered when Japanese film star Maiko Kawamaki went on a talk-show and wondered why her new pet would not bark or eat dog food.

I can't believe that even Japanese people (supposedly collectively one of the smartest nations in the world!) couldn't tell the difference between a dog and a sheep - even when the two most things dogs do, barking and eating, are strangley not a trait of your "poodle". Japan -

[therisingblues]

The scam was uncovered when Japanese film star Maiko Kawamaki went on a talk-show and wondered why her new pet would not bark or eat dog food.

I can't believe that even Japanese people (supposedly collectively one of the smartest nations in the world!) couldn't tell the difference between a dog and a sheep - even when the two most things dogs do, barking and eating, are strangley not a trait of your "poodle". Japan -

I think this story has been "tweaked" in the name of selling papers. I was a little suspicious of it to begin with, so I did a bit of research. The actual interview with Maiko Kawakami has been distorted for shock/amusement value. During the talk show (a very laid back affair where amusing stories and supposedly real life experiences are the main attraction) Maiko told a story about her friend who had sent away to a pet store that reputedly sold cheap poodles. When the animal arrived it didn't eat dog food and didn't bark, so she took it to a vet, who looked at her and asked incredulously "Do you really think that this is a dog?", and so she discovered that it was actually a lamb.
As for the other information, I haven't found anything in Japanese to suggest that a scam on the scale suggested by the English papers has taken place, nor seen it on TV neither does anybody I have spoken to know anything about it. That is not to say the rest isn't true but it took no time at all to find information in English about this, yet the country this supposedly has happened in has surprisingly little information at all. The only information I can find is chat on the blogs about the original interview, which all tend to disagree with major points carried in the tabloids. If anything pops up to prove this is all true I'll stand corrected, but this is the sort of stuff that Japanese people would usually roll around laughing at, so I find it hard to believe that it hasn't been reported in any Japanese media I have yet seen.

[Wedgie]

Yeah, great story that had me and others at working laughing our tits off today but unfortunately its not true:

http://www.snopes.com/critters/lurkers/poodlesheep.asp

[therisingblues]

Thanks Wedgie, I can rest now.

[Psyber]

On another site someone said this scam would never have worked in New Zealand, where they really know their sheep!