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Japanese fooled in poodle scam
26th April 2007

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.