Scam Alert: Sheep being sold as Poodles
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 movie 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.
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 capitalized 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.
By Sirius on 09-05-2007
Comment by gia
May 9th, 2007 at 9:23 am
This one’s already been snoped as false: http://www.snopes.com/critters/lurkers/poodlesheep.asp
Comment by cashjgvfuhjdcvbbjnbsdajn cdjbkd
May 24th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
Scam Alert: Sheep being sold as Poodles
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 movie 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.
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 capitalized 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.â€
Many of the sheep have now been donated to zoos and farms.
IT IS FALSE
Comment by myles
May 24th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
This is a great story! It is so funny. It is so stupid because who don’t know the different between a sheep and a poodle.
The element in this urban legend which are true are well know place like (Japan). There are well knowing newspaper articles like the (U.K. tabloid, the sun). There are well known things like the Japanese police, Japanese actress by the name of (Maiko Kawakami. Money) amount are real like ($1200)
The elements in this urban legend which are false are sheep being sold as poodles and how doesn’t the Japanese people know the different between animal.
The elements in of the story from part of the pattern of this urban legend are
Written by Myles Heathcote
Comment by JOSHUA JONES
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:35 am
THIS IS STUPITD AND GAY LIKE I AM