Shake, Rattle and Maul

 

August 04, 2006 12:15am

HIS owner doesn't know what came over him. And, by his downcast expression, neither does Barney the guard dog.

The doberman pinscher went berserk while on duty at a British teddy bear museum, tearing 100 toys apart and causing $50,000 damage.

Among his victims was Mabel, a $98,000 Steiff bear that once belonged to Elvis Presley, and the jewel in the 500,000-strong collection.

Barney was meant to be protecting the bears, which are on show at the Wookey Hole Caves tourist attraction near Wells, Somerset, England.

The Wookey Hole website boasts its insurers "insist upon 24-hour uniformed security, complete with highly trained guard dogs" ensuring the bears would be "one hundred per cent secure."

But Barney had other ideas.

He went on his wrecking spree on Tuesday, savaging more than 100 of the cherished bears, after security guard Greg West let him off the leash.

Mabel's owner, Somerset aristocrat Sir Benjamin Slade, who had lent the bear to the exhibition, was said to be "absolutely furious".

Sir Benjamin, an avid collector of Elvis memorabilia, bought the 1909 Steiff at auction in Memphis, Tennessee, for about $100,000.

He was "too distraught" to comment yesterday.

But a horrified Mr West, 36, had plenty to say.

"Barney has been a model guard dog for over six years," he said.

"I still can't believe what happened. It's just awful.

"He's never done anything like this before.

"I was so concerned I took him to the vet and he thinks there may have been some sort of rogue scent on poor Mabel."

Staff who spent yesterday clearing up the mess found some bears had escaped relatively lightly - with Barney simply slobbering over them.

Other, more unfortunate toys had limbs ripped off and were beyond repair.

Daniel Medley, general manager of the Wookey Hole tourist attraction, said: "It's a disaster.

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

"Some of the bears in the exhibition are behind glass, but some are not and a new cabinet was being built for Mabel.

"But on Tuesday nigh, she was left out on a counter and when Barney came into the museum he went for her.

"Greg wrestled Mabel off him but a large chunk has been ripped out of her stomach.

"The dog then went on the rampage for about 15 minutes, grabbing everything in his path until Greg managed to get him under control.

"We ill be holding an internal investigation as to why Mabel was left out - and heads will roll over this.

"It is entirely normal for the guard dogs to be off their lead to sniff around. Ironically, our insurance company insisted we had a dog."

The exhibition, which opened at Easter, featured bears on loan from The British Bear Collection and from private owners.

Found on page 9 of the Melbourne "Herald-Sun" newspaper, 4th August 2006.