NORFOLK, Va. (January 9, 2013)--Police in Norfolk, Va., got reports about a lion on the loose, but the lion was no lion.

It was just Daniel Painter's Labradoodle named Charles the Monarch.

The pooch has a cut that looks like a lion's shaggy mane and is the color of a big cat.

The Virginian-Pilot reported that police even called the Norfolk Zoo to make sure the zoo’s two lions were in their cages.

They were.

Painter joked that he tells people his dog is a "lab-a-lion."