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Doberman eats Elvis' teddy bear
Doberman on guard duty whacks 100 teddy bears
By Alan Cowell The New York Times
Published: August 3, 2006
LONDON For these teddy bears, it was no picnic. On Tuesday night, at a tourist attraction called Wookey Hall Caves in western England, Barney, a Doberman pinscher guard dog, briefly ran amok among a collection of teddy- bears, including a 1909 German Steiff bear called Mabel that was reputed to have belonged, once upon a time, to Elvis Presley.
"It could have been the scent of Elvis" that triggered the attack, said Daniel Medley, a spokesman for the 70-acre, or 28-hectare, site near Wells in Somerset.
Whatever it was, Barney chewed, tore, ripped and otherwise savaged around 100 teddy bears before his handler, Greg West, was able to restrain him.
"I still can't believe what happened," West said.
Either it was a "rogue scent" that "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."
Photographs of the dog in British newspapers on Thursday showed the Doberman with what may or may not be an expression of canine contrition, sitting on his haunches amid a detritus of stuffing, glass eyes, amber fur and ursine innards.
On the other hand, the expression may just have been saying: Oops!
"It's a bit ironic, really," Medley, the spokesman said. "A German dog destroying a German bear."
Among aficionados - or, indeed, among cash-strapped parents - Steiff bears are seen as top-end teddies, but there has been no demand for Barney to pay the ultimate price.
"There's been no suggestion that Barney should be put down," Medley said. "But we don't want him back here. In fact, dogs are now banned from the teddy bear collection."
The mauling of Mabel was no joke. The bear was reportedly on loan from Benjamin Slade, the 59-year-old owner of a nearby 13th-century manor house who achieved some renown this year when he began advertising for an heir in the United States.
Slade, who did not respond immediately to a phone call to his home at Maunsel House requesting comment, was said in newspapers here to have paid the equivalent of $75,000 for Mabel at an auction in Memphis. But Medley said in a telephone interview: "I had a very embarrassing phone call with the owner. He's not very happy at all."
LONDON For these teddy bears, it was no picnic. On Tuesday night, at a tourist attraction called Wookey Hall Caves in western England, Barney, a Doberman pinscher guard dog, briefly ran amok among a collection of teddy- bears, including a 1909 German Steiff bear called Mabel that was reputed to have belonged, once upon a time, to Elvis Presley.
"It could have been the scent of Elvis" that triggered the attack, said Daniel Medley, a spokesman for the 70-acre, or 28-hectare, site near Wells in Somerset.
Whatever it was, Barney chewed, tore, ripped and otherwise savaged around 100 teddy bears before his handler, Greg West, was able to restrain him.
"I still can't believe what happened," West said.
Either it was a "rogue scent" that "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."
Photographs of the dog in British newspapers on Thursday showed the Doberman with what may or may not be an expression of canine contrition, sitting on his haunches amid a detritus of stuffing, glass eyes, amber fur and ursine innards.
On the other hand, the expression may just have been saying: Oops!
"It's a bit ironic, really," Medley, the spokesman said. "A German dog destroying a German bear."
Among aficionados - or, indeed, among cash-strapped parents - Steiff bears are seen as top-end teddies, but there has been no demand for Barney to pay the ultimate price.
"There's been no suggestion that Barney should be put down," Medley said. "But we don't want him back here. In fact, dogs are now banned from the teddy bear collection."
The mauling of Mabel was no joke. The bear was reportedly on loan from Benjamin Slade, the 59-year-old owner of a nearby 13th-century manor house who achieved some renown this year when he began advertising for an heir in the United States.
Slade, who did not respond immediately to a phone call to his home at Maunsel House requesting comment, was said in newspapers here to have paid the equivalent of $75,000 for Mabel at an auction in Memphis. But Medley said in a telephone interview: "I had a very embarrassing phone call with the owner. He's not very happy at all."
LONDON For these teddy bears, it was no picnic. On Tuesday night, at a tourist attraction called Wookey Hall Caves in western England, Barney, a Doberman pinscher guard dog, briefly ran amok among a collection of teddy- bears, including a 1909 German Steiff bear called Mabel that was reputed to have belonged, once upon a time, to Elvis Presley.
"It could have been the scent of Elvis" that triggered the attack, said Daniel Medley, a spokesman for the 70-acre, or 28-hectare, site near Wells in Somerset.
Whatever it was, Barney chewed, tore, ripped and otherwise savaged around 100 teddy bears before his handler, Greg West, was able to restrain him.
"I still can't believe what happened," West said.
Either it was a "rogue scent" that "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."
Photographs of the dog in British newspapers on Thursday showed the Doberman with what may or may not be an expression of canine contrition, sitting on his haunches amid a detritus of stuffing, glass eyes, amber fur and ursine innards.
On the other hand, the expression may just have been saying: Oops!
"It's a bit ironic, really," Medley, the spokesman said. "A German dog destroying a German bear."
Among aficionados - or, indeed, among cash-strapped parents - Steiff bears are seen as top-end teddies, but there has been no demand for Barney to pay the ultimate price.
"There's been no suggestion that Barney should be put down," Medley said. "But we don't want him back here. In fact, dogs are now banned from the teddy bear collection."
The mauling of Mabel was no joke. The bear was reportedly on loan from Benjamin Slade, the 59-year-old owner of a nearby 13th-century manor house who achieved some renown this year when he began advertising for an heir in the United States.
Slade, who did not respond immediately to a phone call to his home at Maunsel House requesting comment, was said in newspapers here to have paid the equivalent of $75,000 for Mabel at an auction in Memphis. But Medley said in a telephone interview: "I had a very embarrassing phone call with the owner. He's not very happy at all."
LONDON For these teddy bears, it was no picnic. On Tuesday night, at a tourist attraction called Wookey Hall Caves in western England, Barney, a Doberman pinscher guard dog, briefly ran amok among a collection of teddy- bears, including a 1909 German Steiff bear called Mabel that was reputed to have belonged, once upon a time, to Elvis Presley.
"It could have been the scent of Elvis" that triggered the attack, said Daniel Medley, a spokesman for the 70-acre, or 28-hectare, site near Wells in Somerset.
Whatever it was, Barney chewed, tore, ripped and otherwise savaged around 100 teddy bears before his handler, Greg West, was able to restrain him.
"I still can't believe what happened," West said.
Either it was a "rogue scent" that "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."
Photographs of the dog in British newspapers on Thursday showed the Doberman with what may or may not be an expression of canine contrition, sitting on his haunches amid a detritus of stuffing, glass eyes, amber fur and ursine innards.
On the other hand, the expression may just have been saying: Oops!
"It's a bit ironic, really," Medley, the spokesman said. "A German dog destroying a German bear."
Among aficionados - or, indeed, among cash-strapped parents - Steiff bears are seen as top-end teddies, but there has been no demand for Barney to pay the ultimate price.
"There's been no suggestion that Barney should be put down," Medley said. "But we don't want him back here. In fact, dogs are now banned from the teddy bear collection."
The mauling of Mabel was no joke. The bear was reportedly on loan from Benjamin Slade, the 59-year-old owner of a nearby 13th-century manor house who achieved some renown this year when he began advertising for an heir in the United States.
Slade, who did not respond immediately to a phone call to his home at Maunsel House requesting comment, was said in newspapers here to have paid the equivalent of $75,000 for Mabel at an auction in Memphis. But Medley said in a telephone interview: "I had a very embarrassing phone call with the owner. He's not very happy at all.
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Message edited 8/5/2006 12:22:00 PM.
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