Dog owners 'fleeced' in poodle scam - PBX Info :: Your Free PBX, PABX and Telephone Information Resource

***papa-bear*** · 04-26-2007, 11:58 AM

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=46730&in_page_id=34

Dog owners 'fleeced' in poodle scam
Thursday, April 26, 2007

Thousands of people have been 'fleeced' into buying neatly coiffured lambs they thought were poodles.

Entire flocks of lambs were shipped over from the UK and Australia to Japan by an internet company and marketed as the latest 'must have' accessory.

But the scam was only spotted after a leading Japanese actress said her 'poodle' didn't bark and refused to eat dog food.

Maiko Kawakami, who starred in the Japanese thriller Violent Cop, showed photographs of her pet on a television talk show only to be told it wasn't a dog - but was in fact a lamb.

The discovery prompted hundreds of women to contact the police with similar problems and the authorities believe as many as 2,000 people have been conned.

'We launched an investigation after we were made aware that a company was selling sheep as poodles,' a police spokesman told The Sun.
'Sadly, we think there is more than one company operating in this way.
'The sheep are believed to have been imported from overseas - Britain and Australia.'

Poodles are famously used by the rich and glamourous on the continent but are extremely rare in Japan, with many people having little idea what they look like.

The company, which translates as Poodles as Pets, sold the 'poodles' for £630, about half the cost of a normal poodle but is now understood to have been shut down.

monkeylizard · 04-26-2007, 01:07 PM

Someone got the wool pulled over their eyes by some baaaaaaaad people.

Rachelle · 04-26-2007, 01:07 PM

That is too funny. I live in a city but, even I know what a lamb vs. a poodle looks like.

rlc

***Lmo*** · 04-26-2007, 01:16 PM

Do these folks not know what hooves are? Where was the dog's big black nose and canine teeth? Do they not know the difference between Baaaa and woof? Did what came out of the 'poodle' look like what comes out of other dogs or was that 'special poodle poop'?

Java_Bob · 04-26-2007, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Thousands of people have been 'fleeced' into buying neatly coiffured lambs they thought were poodles.

monkeylizard · 04-26-2007, 01:29 PM

I was wondering when that smilie might be employed.

Good Work Bob!

***MSYoung*** · 04-26-2007, 01:44 PM

This is a funny story but I wonder if a law was actually broken. If they catch the perpetrators of this scam, can they be prosecuted?

Is there a law somewhere that says thou shalt not sell a sheep as a poodle? Or is it really caveat emptor, buyer beware?

monkeylizard · 04-27-2007, 09:03 AM

I suspect most places have "truth in advertising" laws of some kind.

korvettekarl · 04-27-2007, 03:47 PM

It's called fraud.

***papa-bear*** · 04-27-2007, 04:08 PM

only if they are selling poodles. If they are advertising pets and someone buys them thinking they are poodles then that is there problem.

Maybe they are all sheep named 'poodle'. Then you could say "do you want to buy Poodle?"

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