Mad dog, grrrrr

Dog goes berserk, destroys Elvis' teddy bear

LONDON, England (AP) -- 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 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.

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," Medley said.

A security guard at the museum, Greg West, said he spent several minutes chasing Barney before wrestling the dog to the ground.

So, I have two thoughts on this story. One, protection, based on the photos it looks to me that this "museum" is little more than the bedroom of a ten year old girl (or me). What I mean is that if you have nearly a million dollars with of stuffed animals you might want to put them out of reach, or in a case of some sort, or, I don't know, BEHIND glass!

Seriously, I can't imagine how you would safely clean a furry object that was very old and not damage it after a while so why wouldn't you take some measures to make cleaning damage as little as possible, not to mention protect the objects from light, dust and moisture. Also, having items nearly floor level is never a good idea.

My second thought is that they need to work on their presentation. The colors are ridiculous (walls/shelves) and the stuff is just crammed in there. Like I said, if this was a kids bedroom fine, but as a "museum" it needs a lot of work. It looks more like converted kitchen.

It is sad and all but I kind of think they were stupid to think their display was safe at all. Hope they had good insurance.