I had to post this one.

I read today in the Sydney Morning Herald about hundred of Japanese people being scammed. Whats’ so unusal about that you ask? People get scammed all the time. But this one takes the cake.

It seems a company called Poodles as Pets has been selling poodles to Japanese customers for $1600(AU). This, they say is very cheap for a poodle, at about half price.

But it turns out, after God knows how long, that these “poodles” are in fact……. sheep. Yes, that’s right sheep. The scam was apparently uncovered by some film actress on TV wondering out loud why her poodle didn’t bark, and wouldn’t eat dog food. After that aired, it seems hundred of people rang to the Police to complain that their “poodles” were also acting a bit strange. One couple had even taken their animal to the vet to get its nails clipped only to”discover” it had hooves. They first discovered this at the vet!?!?!!

I find this story extremely difficult to believe. If it was the 1st of April, I would laugh my head off. But it’s coming from AAP, Australia’s national news agency, and so the story has a certain amount of credibility. Still, the thought has just struck me that they might also have been taken on this one.

Really, I’ve never heard of anything so crazy in all my life. How is it possible that people exist in the world DON’T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A DOG AND A SHEEP? You don’t have to grow up in the country to know what a dog looks like. And sheep bleat. And they eat grass? Did no-one notice? I think we should give “Poodles as Pets” an award for ingenuity. I think I have given up any idea of ever going to Japan. The country now officially scares me. 🙂 (just kidding)

So, real story or urban myth? I suppose AAP as the source makes me think it’s real. What a world.

see here for the smh article

[tags]poodles, scams, sheep or poodle, Japanese scam[/tags]