Japan Sheep for Poodle Scam - Was a fake?

For those of you that might have missed the story today, the "internets" were a buzz about a scam on the people of Japan. Such websites like Yahoo, The Register, and the Free Republic, all ran the story. Here is some of it from Yahoo.

"A Japanese actress inadvertently 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." (Yahoo)

"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 was soon set straight - her dog was in fact a sheep." (Yahoo)

"The revelation provoked a stream of women to contact the cops with "similar problems". The powers that be reckon that as many as 2,000 have fallen victim to the audacious ovine poodle con, perpetrated by Internet company "Poodles as Pets", which offered the animals at £630 a pop." (Yahoo)

According to Cerebral Soup, this is just a big Internet hoax. Below is what they say in rebuttal to this story.

"OK for starters Hokkaido is not a huge place - and it just happens to be the centre of sheep breeding in Japan. There are even sheep festivals. Not to mention the following:
- Haruki Murakami's famous novel published in 1993- A Wild Sheep Chase
- Once every 12 years there is a Year of the Sheep
- mutton is often talked about because of it's recent popularity, and the rise of "Genghis Khan" restaurants (places specializing in mutton dishes)
- hell even a couple of weeks ago Japanese band Metalmouse released their new album titled Tales of the Sheep
-So sheep are very well known - especially in bloody Sapporo.
-From the Sun: 'The company, whose name translated as Poodles As Pets, has now been shut down'." (Cerebral Soup)

"Well they certainly don't muck around because there is no reference to any pet store real or offline that I could find googling with a name like that (or closest Japanese variations thereof). Also let's look at the fact that as far as popular dogs go Toy Poodles are in the top 5. They are all over the TV. You can't miss them. Not only that but there are also several Japanese websites dedicated to poodles, poodle clubs and breeder sites. You can't walk into a pet store without seeing one. Poodles are everywhere." (Cerebral Soup)

"Plus it seems very odd that this breaking story does not appear anywhere in the Japanese media. Now this is exactly the kind of story most news shows would spend hours on screening - complete with tearful, blurred out victims, and the anchors being able to express total outrage. Thorough investigations into the differences between poodles and lambs. A few ‘experts’ in ties thrown in to give it all credibility. For sure Wai-wai would have jumped all over it months ago (and then Fark and every community blog and their dog)." (Cerebral Soup)

Is the sheep dressed as poodles real or was it a hoax? After reading the Cerebral Soup, I am very inclined to believe that it was a hoax. It would have been a really good hoax since it was all over the Internet.

These have been a few faked thoughts of my complex mind.