Japanese swindled in poodle scam

[The Beer Slayer]

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=263297

Japanese fooled in poodle scam
Friday Apr 27 06:00 AEST

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

[Lonewulf]

[Lance]

There are no words, or emoticon to express how hord I was laughing before I regained enough composure to reply.

ROTGDFLMMFAO!

[Arneb]

ROTGDFLMMFAO!

What's that second M, by the way?

[Bill_Thompson]

Damn, that is funny. THanks for the good laugh

[Enzo]

How could they possibly think...


I guess ewe had to be there...




(It's like Christ dying for our sins, I said it so you don't have to.)

[Enzo]

And they make lovely Xmas gifts...

Fleece Navidad

[troubleagain]

Let the baaaaad jokes begin. Ewe people are as bad as my other friends.







snopes says nopes

[Lance]

ROTGDFLMMFAO!

What's that second M, by the way?

"Mother"

Got it?

snopes says nopes

Damn! I snopes almost everything. Yet I bought this.

Poodle scam story a hoax
Friday Apr 27 13:00 AEST

By Shaun Davies
ninemsn

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 that Australian sheep had been sold to rich women as poodles by a company in Sapporo, Japan.

The story has since been reported internationally by newspapers and websites in the UK, America, New Zealand and South Africa.

Earlier today it was run on most major news websites in Australia, including ninemsn.

The Sun reported the scam was blown when Japanese movie star Maiko Kawakami complained on an unnamed talk show that her "poodle" was unable to bark or eat pet food.

The newspaper said a police spokesman in Japan had confirmed the company, called "Poodles As Pets", had been shut down.

But a public relations spokesman for Hokkaido police, whose jurisdiction includes Sapporo, said he had not heard of the scam.

The spokesman refused to elaborate on Kawakami's comments, as it "was not a police matter".

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"?

A producer for the Gokigenyou told ninemsn she could not comment on the story's authenticity, as she was not Maiko Kawakami. But she said she had not heard about the 2000 other people reportedly scammed by the poodle bandits.

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

A Tokyo-based entertainment and culture reporter said she had not heard of the story. The story had not been reported in any Japanese newspapers, she said.

The Sun reported that because sheep were rare in Japan, people there were not able to distinguish between a sheep and a poodle.

But sheep have been bred in Sapporo for many years. In 1848, an American farmer named Edwin Dun came to Sapporo to set up a sheep farm.

Near to the hi-tech Sapporo Dome Sports Stadium is a hill called Hitsukigaoka, which means "sheep hill".

"If you like sheep, this is the place for you," a travel website says.

Tokyo resident Sakurako Sugata said she had not heard of the story before today. She said she didn't believe a word of it.

"Buying a sheep instead of a poodle? It's ridiculous!" Ms Sugata said.

"If you want to keep the sheep and cut it up and eat it, then that would be a good idea, but that story's just stupid."

"No-one with any intelligence would buy a sheep instead of a poodle."

[Arneb]

"Mother"

Got it?

Oh, quite, you naughty boy.

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.
[...]
"No-one with any intelligence would buy a sheep instead of a poodle."

Sounds like an April Fool's joke, they just got the date wrong.

[Enzo]

Shorn uff.

Guess they pulled the wool over our eyes again.

Next time alpaca lunch.

[Superluminal]

Baaaaaaaaaaaad doggie. :D

Kinda hard to get the pronounciation right by typing, but I think you get the idea.