Fleeced

From the Sunday Snail.

Thousands of Japanese have been fleeced 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 $1600 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.

Then hundreds of other women got in touch with police to say they feared their new "poodle" was also a sheep.

I've since heard that this story is rubbish, based on a misquote or mistranslation. We're pretty quick to assume as true any story that shows the Japanese to be ridiculously eccentric, stupid, or stupidly and eccentrically ridiculous. But what the hell. I think it's a great story anyway. I only wish I'd thought of importing the sheep myself.