A JAPANESE man spent almost £13,000 transforming himself into a real-life Lassie and claims that trolls call it a bizarre fetish.
The Collie-wannabe, Toco, went viral for posting himself in his ultra-realistic costume as he waddled down the streets of Tokyo.
Toco ordered the dog outfit from a specialist movie and TV costume maker and began sharing his journey to become a canine on YouTube a year ago.
Since then, the dog-lover has racked up over 52.6k followers on his channel and previously revealed to fans: “I became a rough collie because I wanted to be an animal“.
Toco has even invested in a full-sized dog cage to sleep in and the human on his videos can often be seen pointing at the cage so he can lead himself in.
The Japanese oddball paid £12,500 for the fake fur suit, which took around 40 days to make.
Most of the videos he posts online show him in the comfort of his own home as he lives out his pooch dreams but he recently ventured out into the world and was once again catapulted to worldwide stardom.
In the footage of his first outdoor walk, Toco could be seen trotting up a road while being walked by a young woman.
He performed tricks and interacted with other people and their real-life pups and later admitted to the New York Post that he “did not expect such a big response” about his life as a dog.
Toco said his family were left “surprised” after learning about his canine identity but “received it favourably”.
“I am very happy that they accepted it,” he said.
The clip racked up almost seven million views and trolls were quick to leave their thoughts in his comment section.
One wrote: “Stay strong guys..world is going insane”.
Another said: “Every single time… I think I’ve seen it all. Something new happens and shocks the heck out of me”.
A third commented: “A few days ago this was in my news feed on my phone. I had the pleasure seeing this the first thing after waking up and it made the whole story even more bizarre”.
One more added: “This is so weird that someone would actually do this. People are wild”.
But not everyone judges Toco for his pooch lifestyle as one person wrote: “I think it’s awesome that you are a border collie. Never change unless you want to.”
The man doesn’t let the negativity get him down though and said: “I love animals and enjoy play-acting like a collie.
This is my hobby, so I will carry on. It makes me happy and other people happy, too.”
It seems Toco isn’t alone in his love for dressing up as man’s best friend.
In the US, more than a quarter of a million people now identify as “furries” – a subculture where members dress up as cartoonish animals, sometimes as a sexual fetish.
Writer and enthusiast Joe Strike, 67, from New York, penned a book lifting the lid on the quirky fetish in a book called Furry Nation.
Strike, who dresses up as a suave Komodo dragon named Komos, estimates two-thirds of furries are men.
He also believes a large number of furries come from the IT and technology professions.
