Man Loves Dogs So Much He Became One

Jul 29

Jul 29 Man Loves Dogs So Much He Became One

A Japanese man spent two million yen (about $15K) on a terrifyingly realistic dog suit. He goes only by his dog name, Toco, preferring to keep his human identity a secret.

The costume presents a pretty good rendition of a rough collie (misidentified as a border collie in much of the press), as long as Toco is standing still. When he moves he looks more like an animatronic robot or a taxidermied Lassie come to life, but his enthusiasm with his dog’s life is undeniable.

For months Toco could be seen only on YouTube and other social media sites, but lately he has ventured out to interact with humans and other (?) dogs. A German TV crew covered the man-apes-dog story, so Toco now has something of an international following.

Why the anonymity? “I don’t want my hobbies to be known, especially by the people I work with,” Toco told the Daily Mail. “They think it’s weird that I want to be a dog. For the same reason why I can’t show my real face.”

Toco has his own YouTube channel.