Pulling the wool

Here is a classic case of Chinese whispers, 2007-style. Actress Maiko Kawakami went on a Tokyo talk show recently and said she'd heard of someone who had bought a "poodle" (selling in Japan for up to [pound]1,260), which turned out to be a lamb. In just a few shakes of its tail, a story was running around the world that "thousands" of "rich, stupid Japanese women" had been conned into buying lambs under the impression they were miniature poodles, the latest must-have pet.

It was reported by the BBC, The Sun, Daily Express, US TV shows and by papers and websites around the world, with the explanation that sheep are so rare in Japan that few people would recog-nise one. Con men were said to be importing whole flocks and then knocking them out as little dogs at [pound]630 a time. And some accounts told of a woman who took her "poodle" in to have its "claws" trimmed, only to be told they were in fact hooves. Headlines such as "Ewe've been had", and "Shoppers fleeced" abounded. Except in Japan. They spotted it for the hoax it was. "They have very small brains and cannot really be house-trained," said a New Zealand expert. Was he talking about sheep - or the reporters?

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