Blizzardboy | A Kiwi in Japan

In a story that I find very difficult to believe, it appears that as many as 2000 people in Japan have been conned into buying sheep from Britian and Australia as poodles. Now of course we all know that New Zealand sheep are far preferable both in terms of temperament and pedigree, but above and beyond that, confusing dogs and sheep is pretty far out of left field.

Here is the story that the English paper the Metro ran:

Dog owners ‘fleeced’ in poodle scam

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Is it a lamb? Is it a poodle? Can you spot the difference?

Thousands of people have been ‘fleeced’ into buying neatly coiffured lambs they thought were poodles.

Entire flocks of lambs were shipped over from the UK and Australia to Japan by an internet company and marketed as the latest ‘must have’ accessory.

But the scam was only spotted after a leading Japanese actress said her ‘poodle’ didn’t bark and refused to eat dog food.

Maiko Kawakami, who starred in the Japanese thriller Violent Cop, showed photographs of her pet on a television talk show only to be told it wasn’t a dog – but was in fact a lamb.

The discovery prompted hundreds of women to contact the police with similar problems and the authorities believe as many as 2,000 people have been conned.

‘We launched an investigation after we were made aware that a company was selling sheep as poodles,’ a police spokesman told The Sun.

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

‘The sheep are believed to have been imported from overseas – Britain and Australia.’

A lamb

Poodles are famously used by the rich and glamourous on the continent but are extremely rare in Japan, with many people having little idea what they look like.

The company, which translates as Poodles as Pets, sold the ‘poodles’ for £630, about half the cost of a normal poodle but is now understood to have been shut down.

I just feel sorry for the sheep. Shipped halfway round the world to end up the prize possession of luxury 30 square meter apartment dweller. Poor things.

Hope they don’t eat them.