Man who turned into a dog for $14k opens a zoo for people who want to be animals

There’s eccentric, and then there’s Toco—the man who singlehandedly made entire humanity jump the shark. Known as The Human Collie, this Japanese legend has officially opened the doors to his Tocotoco Zoo in Saitama Prefecture, where you, too, can live out your childhood dream of turning into a giant dog.

Opened on January 26, 2025, the Tocotoco Zoo does not feature lions, pandas, and grumpy zookeepers scooping up after elephants. Instead, visitors get the chance to step into hyper-realistic Alaskan Malamute suits.

According to the zoo's website, guests are encouraged to engage in activities typical of dogs—which presumably includes sniffing random objects, chasing invisible squirrels, and maybe attempting to bury bones in the couch cushions.

This dream-turned-reality is only for those between 4’11” and 5’11”, as they can squeeze into the canine couture. And it reportedly clocks in at 49,000 yen ($311) for a 180-minute session.

If you’re having trouble operating the suit’s mouth, you even get a 10% discount.

What happens at Tocotoco stays at Tocotoco

Expand Tweet

If you’re wondering who’s behind this bizarre attraction, meet Toco—the man, the myth, the doggo.

As a kid, when other children wanted to be astronauts or firefighters, Toco had a simpler wish: to be a dog. He even wrote it in his grade school graduation book.

Flash forward to adulthood, and he spent $14,000 on a custom-made collie suit, courtesy of Zeppet—a Japanese company specializing in hyper-realistic models.

Forty days later, he had his dog suit, weighing in at around 4 kg, and he trained himself to move on all fours, wagging his tail convincingly.

From YouTube sensation to zookeeper

Toco took his transformation public via his YouTube channel, “I Want To Be An Animal,” which quickly blew up. His first public dog walk went viral, raking in millions of views.

Half the people were amazed, half were deeply confused, and a solid portion thought the simulation had officially glitched.

Naturally, with fame comes speculation. People wondered if this was some kind of elaborate ruse.

Toco, however, has been crystal clear: this isn’t about that. It’s about joy, childhood dreams, a deep love for animals, and maybe a little bit of “Why not?”.