Japanese actress caught in sheep 'poodle' scam

A Japanese actress inadvertantly blew the lid off a scam which had duped thousands of women into buying coiffured sheep in the belief they were poodles, the Evening Standard reports. Maiko Kawakami appeared on a TV talk show with snaps of her pet, and admitted she wondered why it "didn't bark and refused to eat dog food". She …

[Doc Farmer]

She didn't need a vet or a scientist...

... she just should've asked a Welshman.

[thomasthetanker]

Headlines?

I haven't seen the paper but did they have a headline of ' YOU MUST BE BAA-RKING' ?

[Marvin the Martian]

Will the Welshman recognize the poodle?

It's of course not clear how to find a Welshman in sheep-free Japan, but if the Welshman sees a poodle, wouldn't he classify it as a sheep?

Because it's not like he'd mistake it for a dog, such a ninny misbred thing.

[Anonymous Coward]

She was really fleeced.

They certainly pulled the wool over her eyes.

(That's enough sheep puns. Editor)

[Anonymous Coward]

Where is the picture of the PooSHP?

Well a picture of this animal would be appreciated!

[/\/\j17]

Smells Like Another Made-up Tabloid Story

This has all the markings of the lesser spotted tabloid we-made-this-up story, so I had a little google.

Didn't find anything on the English language Japanese news sites, but www.google.co.jp did pop up this curious link...

"Kiefer Sutherland Fluffy Poodle Fluffy 動画 - MICKEY.TV"

Personally I'm too scared to follow the link"

[Anonymous Coward]

Un-bah-levable......

Couldn't resist it.... sorry.

[John Ridley]

No vets?

Is it normal for people, even celebrities, in Japan to never take their animals to the vet for regular medical care? Surely a vet would have set these people straight.

[Austin]

It should be OK

If the critter wasn't recognized as a sheep either, then sheep must be rare, too. So it should all balance out.

[Milo Tsukroff]

What is this, El Reg or Snopes?

What is this article? Seems like I read this before: There was this lady who picked up a small dog on the street, only it was kinda strange and didn't eat right ...

Oh, that wasn't a sheep, it was rat. Right.

Urban legend? Or reality??

[jubtastic1]

Bah

pictures plz

[Anonymous Coward]

Looks like we will need to re-write the menu

In a couple of months, a nice wool sweater, and mutton/leg of lamb on the menu. Very tasty!!

Obviously the owner has never been to New Zealand!

[NoCo37]

Photo of the sheep....

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007190295,00.html

[Connor Garvey]

Picture

There's a picture here. Is this a joke?

http://www.k9magazine.com/viewarticle.php?sid=15&aid=1981&vid=0&npage=

[fluffy]

I had nothing to do with this

> "Kiefer Sutherland Fluffy Poodle Fluffy 動画 - MICKEY.TV"

[Martin]

Stonehenge

About 10 years ago I went to Stonehenge. At the souvenir shop we were overwhelmed by the number of sheep-themed items for sale. We asked the assistant, who told us that the Japanese bought the sheep stuff, as they don't have sheep in Japan.

[Andy Bright]

Surely

this is just simply a case of a vegetarian dog that was de-baahked. Doesn't explain why my giant collie only say Mooo though.

[Anonymous Coward]

Bah-loney

Had a look on Google Japan's News site for:

川上麻衣子 (Maiko Kawakami)

プードル (poodle)

羊 (sheep)

none of which turned up anything, so I'd have to say this is a load of Bah -loney

[Anonymous Coward]

No sheep in Japan?

Has anyone else read Haruki Murakami's "A Wild Sheep Chase", then? I think there may be more sheep in Japan than we realise...

Mr Larrington

[Daryl Stewart]

Sun-day roasting

http://www.souzouzone.jp/blog/2007/04/media_flock_to.php

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=263447

And who else would have reported it?

[Ole Juul]

Thousands of Brits ...

Yep, a bit of Googling will show

where the story came from.

Have a look at this bit of sleuthing:

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=263447

Nice try though!

[Tom Melly]

More Sheep Fun

Ok, so it's a load of nonsense... so let's have another supposedly true sheep-themed (and SFW) story...

A young teacher from Leeds had accepted a temporary job teaching a class of four-year-olds out in one of the most isolated, rural parts of north Wales. One of her first lessons involved teaching the letter S so she held up a big colour photo of a sheep and said: "Now, who can tell me what this is?" No answer. Twenty blank and wordless faces looked back at her. "Come on, who can tell me what this is?" she exclaimed, tapping the photo determinedly, unable to believe that the children were quite so ignorant. The 20 faces became apprehensive and even fearful as she continued to question them with mounting frustration.

Eventually, one brave soul put up a tiny, reluctant hand. "Yes!" she cried, waving the snap aloft. "Tell me what you think this is!" "Please, Miss," said the boy warily. "Is it a three-year-old Border Leicester?"

[Bob Hannent]

Fact checking.

El Reg, you aren't just supposed to republish stories you read about. Journalism requires that you actually check your facts at the source and the users aren't supposed to have to do that for you!

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a hoax

http://www.snopes.com/critters/lurkers/poodlesheep.asp

[Greg]

Ewe must be baa-king

Not only do you read The Sun, but you actually believed something you read in it? You're not supposed to do that! The words in The Sun are just there to help lay out the pretty pictures.