DOG-lovers at a market in Argentina paid out hundreds of pounds for fashionable "toy-poodles", only to discover that they were fluffed-up ferrets on steroids.

One pensioner was duped into buying two of the "pedigree" pets, but then became suspicious he had bought what Argentines call "Brazilian rats".

When he took the animals to a vet for their vaccinations he was told he had bought two ferrets that had been given steroids at birth to increase their size and then had some extra grooming to make their coats resemble a fluffy toy poodle.

Local television news in the capital, Buenos Aires, discovered that the unidentified man was not alone. Another woman had been told that she was buying a chiuhuahua, but ended up with a ferret.

Ferrets typically have brown, white or mixed fur and are around 51cm in length and weigh around three pounds. Toy poodles are around 25cm tall and weigh around four kilograms.

Toy poodle puppies typically cost upwards of $700, while a ferret will usually set someone back around $70. The "toy" poodle is the smallest of the three varieties of the dog - the others being "standard" and "miniature".