Dog attack no picnic for teddy bears
Associated Press
London — A guard dog has ripped apart a collection of rare teddy bears, including one once owned by Elvis Presley, during a rampage at a children's museum.
“He just went berserk,” said Daniel Medley, general-manager of the Wookey Hole Caves near Wells, England, where hundreds of bears were chewed up Tuesday night by the 6-year-old Doberman pinscher named Barney.
Barney ripped the head off a brown stuffed bear once owned by the young Mr. Presley during the attack, leaving fluffy stuffing and bits of bears' limbs and heads on the museum floor. The bear, named Mabel, was made in 1909 by the German manufacturer Steiff.
The collection, valued at more than $900,000, included a red bear made by Farnell in 1910 and a Bobby Bruin made by Merrythought in 1936.
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An undated handout photo issued by Wookey Hole Caves on Wednesday of security guard Greg West and Barney, the dobermann pinscher that went on a rampage that destroyed a £40,000 teddy bear (inset) formerly owned by Elvis Presley. (Wookey Hole Caves/AP)
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I read in the print edition that the dog's handler thinks Mabel...
Oh Barney,....thank you for the laughs! I really hope you're...
This story doesn't pass the smell test. The bears ARE in cabinets...
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The bear with Elvis connections was owned by English aristocrat Benjamin Slade, who bought it at an Elvis memorabilia auction in Memphis, Tenn., and had loaned it to the museum.
“I've spoken to the bear's owner and he is not very pleased at all,” Mr. Medley said.
A security guard at the museum, Greg West, said he spent several minutes chasing Barney before wrestling the dog to the ground.
Globeandmail.com
The article is from the August 03, 2006 Globe and Mail newspaper
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