A Japanese man spent over $14,000 in an effort to become a realistic dog. Imitating the collie breed, the man forked over thousands to make a human-sized dog costume.
The man goes by Toco online on his YouTube channel where he has over 33,000 subscriptions. The page description reads, "I wanted to be an animal, so I became a rough collie!" The dog costume took 40 days to create.
In one video, the man is seen going into town with a woman and a photographer. He rolls over, cuddles next to the woman, and gives her a high-five with his paw. With millions of views on TikTok, the man has amassed a large audience across platforms. One video of the man rolling over in the costume has over 13 million views. The company that made the costume, Zeppet, creates specialty-designed suits for advertisements and movies. A spokesman from the company said, "Modelled after a collie dog, [the costume] reproduces the appearance of a real dog walking on four legs.” Toco conceals the activities from his friends. In an interview, he said, "I rarely tell my friends because I am afraid they will think I am weird. My friends and family seemed very surprised to learn I became an animal." He added that he enjoys "doing things that only dogs do" because it makes him feel more like a pet. Other instances of people acting as animals have been in the headlines as of late. Furries, for example, have become associated with having an LGBTQ identity. There have been other reports of furries in places such as US middle schools. Pup play, another fetish associated with pretending to be a dog, has been featured in several pride parades with children present. Toco has not revealed his identity on his online platform and has only been on camera with the suit on. His YouTube channel has over 12 million views.
