Japanese man spends $14,000 to ‘turn into a dog’, takes first walk in public

NEW DELHI: After shelling out nearly $14,000 or Rs 12 lakh, a Japanese man has finally realised his dream of becoming something else: a dog.

No, the man didn’t undergo any cosmetic procedure. The man, who goes by the identity “Toco” on YouTube, purchased a “hyper-realistic” costume of a Collie so that he could appear and walk like a canine, according to a report on New York post. Collies are a type of medium-sized herding dogs.
The unusual garment, which took nearly 40 days to create, has helped the man realise his dream of “becoming an animal.”

On his YouTube channel, the man has posted several videos of him walking like a dog. In these videos, which have garnered thousands of views, the man can be seen frolicking on a lawn, rolling on a floor and playing fetch – just like a dog.
He even took his first public walk wearing the costume, inviting awe from people as he parades down a busy street. The video has raked up nearly 3 million views on YouTube so far.
According to NY Post, Toco completed the costume with a harness strapped around his furry abdomen.
The costume was manufactured by a company called Zeppet. “Modeled after a collie dog, it reproduces the appearance of a real dog walking on four legs,” the company’s spokesperson told news.com.au.
In a video posted earlier, Toco had admitted that he always “had a vague dream of becoming an animal” ever since he was a child.
“When I fulfilled that dream, this is how it turned out,” he wrote in the clip, adding that he chose to become a collie due to the negligible size difference between the breed and humans.
The internet, meanwhile, was divided over the man’s decision. While some people praised the costume for being quite realistic, several others called the act “insane and creepy”.
Watch Japanese man dog: Person who spent over Rs 16 lakh for dog costume takes first walk in public