Dog eats Elvis' teddy bear

Sun Online ^ | today | staff

[Rodney King]

A £40,000 teddy bear formerly owned by Elvis Presley was destroyed when a guard dog which was supposed to protect it went on the rampage.

The rare Steiff bear, named Mabel, was due to form the centrepiece of an exhibition at Wookey Hole Caves near Wells, Somerset.

The bear was bought at auction in Memphis, Tennessee, by Somerset aristocrat Sir Benjamin Slade for £40,000 and had been loaned to the collection, a Wookey Hole spokesman said.

The dog “went berserk” and ripped the head off the historic toy, the spokesman added.

Security guard Greg West, 36, was on duty last night when his Dobermann, Barney, savaged the bear, which was made in Germany in 1909.

Mr West, from Totterdown, Bristol, said: “Barney has been a model guard dog for over six years. I still can’t believe what happened.

“Either there was a rogue scent of some kind on Mabel which switched on Barney’s deepest instincts, or it could have been jealousy - I was just stroking Mabel and saying what a nice little bear she was.”

Wookey Hole general manager Daniel Medley said some of the bears were kept behind glass but Mabel was on a work surface because she had not yet gone on display.

As well as Mabel, bears worth around £20,000 were damaged as Barney ran amok in the Wookey Bear Collection.

Mr Medley said: “It’s a disaster. The scene is just a horrific mess, with bits of teddy bear everywhere.

“There are a good 100 bears scattered around all over the place.

“I’m not sure how we are going to explain this to the insurance company.

“Mabel was out on a counter but was due to be added to the collection. I’ve spoken to the bear’s owner, Sir Benjamin, and he is not very pleased at all.”

Mr Medley said Barney’s future at the attraction was “uncertain”.

He said: “I don’t know what’s going to happen to Barney. He is such a sweet dog normally. His owner is very shocked about the whole thing.”

Sir Benjamin was not available for comment at his Maunsel House mansion in North Newton, Somerset.

[Rodney King]

sad...

[Rodney King]

Doggie Ping!

[andy58-in-nh]

"You ain't never caught a rabbit and you ain't no friend of mine..."

[Alter Kaker]

The owner (yes, actually him!):

His house:

[Tribune7]

ROTFLMAO

[mad puppy]

"“I’m not sure how we are going to explain this to the insurance company."

The dog ate it.

[DejaJude]

Bad, bad dog!

[CheneyChick]

You ain't nuthin' but a hound dog.... cryin' all the time.

[HairOfTheDog]

Yes indeed, but already posted and pinged here!

Elvis' Teddy Bear Chewed Up By Museum Guard Dog

[CheneyChick]

LOL - you beat me to it....

You aint nothin but a hound dog
Cryin all the time.
You aint nothin but a hound dog
Cryin all the time.
Well, you aint never caught a rabbit
And you aint no friend of mine.

When they said you was high classed,
Well, that was just a lie.
When they said you was high classed,
Well, that was just a lie.
You aint never caught a rabbit
And you aint no friend of mine.

[Redcitizen]

Now that really deserves the song "You aint nothing but a hound dog" !!

[BeAllYouCanBe]

“Either there was a rogue scent of some kind on Mabel which switched on Barney’s deepest instincts, or it could have been jealousy - I was just stroking Mabel and saying what a nice little bear she was.”

In my house Prissy who weighs 17 pounds -- that is 6 Kg -- for our European friends. Will tear up anything that is stuffed in less than 45 seconds. She has toys made of fire-hose that only last one day. What are these Brits thinking dogs see these as practice dummys.

[PajamaTruthMafia]

I just wanna be eat your Teddy Bear

[thebaron512]

My mom's dogs actually beat them up and don't devour them, but my dad's dog will destroy them in minutes....

[Graymatter]

I don't want to be your tiger,
'Cuz tigers play too rough...

...Oh let me be!
Yo teddy bear. Ba-pa-da, ba-pa-da...

[dighton]

“The scene is just a horrific mess, with bits of teddy bear everywhere.”

[spanalot]

And You Aint No Friend of Mine!

[cmsgop]

My Wife has a Mink Teddy Bear,when we got our Shih-Tzu (day2) to be exact she had the Bear's Ear in her mouth,we freaked!!!!! Found somebody to sew it back on thank goodness.....

[rabidralph]

Sounds like a job for the Dog Whisperer.

[Kirkwood]

I like the house and the horses. Prefer western saddles though.

[windcliff]

ping

[BeAllYouCanBe]

but my dad's dog will destroy them in minutes

This is what I have noticed once a dog gets the feel of cotton stuffing in thier mouth they go all out for "stuffed-animal-lust". I could trust my sweet Prissy around a hot dog for 10 minutes but a stuffed teddy bear is history in less than 10 seconds.

So what I'm saying here is would you have a fox guard the hen house?

Neither would I have a Fox Terrier guard a stuffed animal.

[beyond the sea]

Dog eats Elvis' teddy bear ................

****

Don't Be Cruel

[kingu]

I love you, you love me, next time buy the dog a chew toy please!

[stlnative]

+

=

[ladyinred]

Incredible story! I expected it to be a Bishon who did the deed. I have one that would tear up a toy store full of stuffed animals in 2 seconds!

[NRA2BFree]

WoW. That's a shame. I feel sorry for the owner.

[Thinkin' Gal]

or it could have been jealousy - I was just stroking Mabel and saying what a nice little bear she was.

Something about this isn't quite right.

[Ronin]

Bad dog! No bisquit!

[altura]

Dogs are different where stuffed toys are concerned. My daughter's Golden has at least 50, all intact.

My own Bubba, black lab, loves to play with them and hear them squeak, but, alas, they never last a day with him.

[MediaMole]

Not so much sad as hilariously funny. Leaving a dog to guard stuffed toys? He should have learned when the guard dog ate his prized steak collection.

[Ronin]

Many years ago I had received a very nice, expensive, down-filled winter jacket for Christmas from a girlfriend. It was absolutely beautiful.

I wore it to another friend's house. He had a dog called a pointer -- it looked something like a Doberman but with a longer tail.

Left my jacked on his bed while we both went downstairs to watch TV... came back an hour or two later and his room was totally covered with little feathers. The jacket was totally shredded. The dog was on the floor, feet resting on the remnants, looking totally proud of herself.

[BeAllYouCanBe]

I expected it to be a Bishon who did the deed.

Really, I have a male cat who tears up toys about as fast as my sweet puppy -- cute and lovable Prissy. The cat only shreds the stuffed toys while "the Priss" digests and expels the vermin. (That is how she sees stuffed animals as vermin.)

So let's say that Big Bird from Sesame Street showed up at my house -- well, we're talking about 10 seconds of social time and about 10 major reconstructive surgery operations.

[BeAllYouCanBe]

"Dogs are different where stuffed toys are concerned."

Are we saying we have liberal dogs and conservative dogs here?

I would say that it is the liberal dogs who destroy the stuffed animals. The reason is that liberals hate anything that is whole and intact. They like spoiled goods.

[Dog Gone]

Thanks for the unbearable carnage ping.

[Candor7]

It actually was a Freddy Kruger teddy bear, possessed by the sould of elvis.

Barney was just protecting his master.

Elvis's teddy has left the Room!

[BeAllYouCanBe]

Leaving a dog to guard stuffed toys?

Similar to the story I heard about a woman who said, "Our cat loves hamsters".

Word of advice here. Make sure the cage is closed every time you leave the house for more than 10 minutes.

[lastchance]

Everybody's a critic. I guess the dog wanted his 15 minutes of fame.

[moondoggie]

That's nothing!

Our "real life" teddy bear (an orphaned cub) stole our car keys!

We found them in his sleeping spot down in our aspen field yesterday.... along with various other items he's stolen from the back of our pickup.

We went down there exploring while "he was out" doing whatever baby bears do during the day:-)

True story!

[cajungirl]

Oh my. The horror!

[Old_Mil]

I'm guessing that this bear was made in China, the dog heard about the Chinese authorities beating to death 50,000 of his brothers-in-fur, and decided to exact revenge.

[aculeus]

The bear was bought at auction in Memphis, Tennessee, by Somerset aristocrat Sir Benjamin Slade for £40,000 ...

Noblesse oboob.

[CheneyChick]

That's a quagmire!

[Question_Assumptions]

Smart move. Bring in a guard dog to guard a bunch of expensive chew toys.

[altura]

Bubba is no liberal.

He always sprayed any Kerry sign he saw!

[MozarkDawg]

Hmm ... seems the chain needed to be 'round the dawg's neck instead of the teddy -- did it taste like peanut butter and banana by chance??

[Finny]

My husband saw this story on the news this morning and laughed so hard he nearly ... well, it might not have been pretty! He told me about it when I came back from the gym and all day we've been giggling about it. Well, not giggling so much as collapsing in hysterics!

[az1roadrunner]

Hey hey hey, hey hey hey, I'm all chewed up!

[Political Junkie Too]

I was just stroking Mabel and saying what a nice little bear she was.” Wookey Hole general manager Daniel Medley said some of the bears were kept behind glass but Mabel was on a work surface because she had not yet gone on display.

Is it the usual practice for museum security guards to touch the exhibits after hours when the staff goes home? I wonder how many times Venus di Milo or David has been "stroked."

-PJ

[devolve]