Man who 'transformed' himself into a dog barks back at trolls who say he needs 'therapy'

A man who spent $22,000 transforming himself into a collie has hit back at online trolls who have called his desire to be a dog a “fetish”.

The Japanese man named Toco has had a lifelong dream to become a collie and has dropped several thousand dollars in order to do so.

But, since taking his first public “walk” in his newly transformed state, haters online have told him he needs “therapy”.

Clips of Toco walking around as a dog went viral as he did tricks like rolling over, playing fetch and other dog-like actions.

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On Twitter, someone wrote: A Japanese man spent over $20K for this border collie costume. You cannot convince me this isn’t some weird sex thing.”

But, Toco has hit back at online haters, arguing that it is simply his hobby and there is nothing nefarious about it.

Dogs and people's reactions to seeing a realistic dog costume!www.youtube.com

Toco explained: “I’m just sad that people can think that. I love animals and enjoy play-acting like a collie.”

He continued: “This is my hobby, so I will carry on. It makes me happy and other people happy, too.”

Toco revealed that he has been dreaming of transforming into a dog since he was a child.

He said: “Do you remember your dreams from when you are little? You want to be a hero or a wizard.”

Toco continued: “I remember writing in my grade school graduation book that I wanted to be a dog and walk outside.”

In order to achieve his dream, he spent 2 million yen on a hyper-realistic collie costume made by the company Zeppet, which usually takes commissions from TV and film studios.

The final costume took 40 days to make and involved multiple revisions to get perfect.

However, Toco does understand that some people will find his hobby strange.

In one video, he said: “I haven’t told anyone about my transformation into a dog,” adding, “I am still afraid that my friends will find my hobby bizarre.”

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