Dog rips apart Elvis teddy bear

Thursday, August 03, 2006

London (Reuters): Barney the guard dog went berserk at a teddy bear exhibition in England and ripped the stuffing out of Elvis Presley's beloved bear Mabel, exhibitors said today. Wookey Hole Caves, a popular holiday destination in Somerset, southern England, was drawing children with its display of 1,000 precious teddy bears, including Mabel, beloved bear of the King of Rock and Roll, singer of ''I just wanna be your teddy bear'' and ''You ain't nothing but a hound dog''. But, said General Manager Daniel Medley, it all went horribly wrong.

The collection was so valuable that the insurance company insisted the exhibitors guard it with dogs. Barney, a sleek and handsome Dobermann, was dutifully dispatched. ''The security guard was doing his normal patrols at the site. He let the dog in, and the dog went on a rampage,'' Medley told Reuters. ''He started with Mabel, took a very large chunk out of Mabel almost severing her head, and then went mad. It took about 20 minutes to bring him out.'' Dozens of other bears were shredded too.

Mabel is the property of Sir Benjamin Slade, a local aristocrat, who says he paid 40,000 pounds (75,000 dollars) at auction for the bear. Sir Benjamin is ''hopping mad,'' confessed Medley. As for Barney, ''he's going to be retired to a farm where he can chase chickens,'' Medley said. ''We've told the security company we don't want anything nasty to happen to Barney, but we don't want him back.''