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

Japanese fooled in poodle scam

Thursday Apr 26 20:55 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.

;D ;D ;D...wait one more... ;D

im sorry but if it takes you more than maybe 5 minutes to figure out that its a sheep not a dog then you have other things to worry about other than the scam

OH OH more oriental mail order brides may be in the making

I laughed so hard I cried when I read this. ;D

You know, with all the publicity that Dolly the cloned sheep got a few years ago, you'd think most people would at least have an idea what one looked like. I can still buy the idea that these folks had never seen one, thus did not recognize it.

But, how dumb do you have to be to want something bad enough to pay $1600 for it, and not at least know what looks like?

But, how dumb do you have to be to want something bad enough to pay $1600 for it, and not at least know what looks like?

who pays that kind of dough for a dog anyway let alone for a poodle?  :-?

Reminds me of a Blonde joke about a sheep herder and how he wanted his dog back... ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

I fell out of my chair laughing at this..... and people thought the Japanese were so much smarter than us.

They have to be dumb over there. Can't you tell the differnce between a dog and a sheep? Lets start with telling the differnce.

1. sheeps are bigger then a poodle.

2. sheep poop little rasins like poop. Were dogs poop is big.  

3 A dog will fetch a ball.

4. Dogs lift there leg to pee.

5. If your back yeard looks like a putting green its not a dog.

6. Sheep have hoves and dogs have paws.  

If they can't tell the differnce I got a 130lb rot/lab mix. I will sell for a few grand becasue I call him a ox. Maybe they could use him to pull there carts.

One thing you must take into account is that a lot of the Japanese people (much like city dwellers the world over) have never been up close and personal with livestock.

And just think, these are the same folks who make our high dollar baits. :-?

I guess when we call Lucky Craft to order some top water baits, and tell the operator that we want to "walk the dog" with the bait, we'll have to translate our order to Japanese and say "walk the sheep."

And just think, these are the same folks who make our high dollar baits. :-?

I guess when we call Lucky Craft to order some top water baits, and tell the operator that we want to "walk the dog" with the bait, we'll have to translate our order to Japanese and say "walk the sheep."

hahahah that too much. hahahahahaha.

Lucky craft announced a new bait today.

It's called "Lucky Ewe"

Do you know what you call a Japaneese with 4 poodles   A CATTLE BARON