Pooch With Expensive Tastes Swallows $10,000 Worth of Diamonds
The $10,000 worth of jewels were recovered after "nature took its course."
Aug. 24, 2011— -- Forget puppy chow. One pampered pooch treated himself to a $10,000 snack of diamonds in his owner's jewelry store.
Honey Bun, the dog who greets customers with a wag of the tail at John Ross Jewelers in Albany, Ga., swallowed the diamonds two weeks ago, said the store's co-owner Chuck Roberts.
Roberts told ABC News affiliate WALB that he left four packets of diamonds on his desk when he got up to wait on a customer.
Honey Bun, a pint sized pet, was able to jump on Roberts' chair and then onto the desk, gobbling up the gems.
"We looked all over and there weren't any diamonds, so immediately I knew he'd eaten them," Roberts told WALB.
He took Honey Bun in for an X-Ray, where two blanks spots were revealed in the dog's stomach. Since carbon doesn't show up in X-rays, they figured the spots were the diamonds.
Honey Bun, and Roberts, were lucky. Nature simply took its course the next day. After Honey Bun did his business, his relieved owners found the gems, cleaned them and sent them back to the manufacturer, Roberts told WALB.
Pooch With Expensive Tastes Eats Diamonds
This isn't the first time a dog has devoured a diamond.
Last year, a golden retriever named Soli swallowed a three carat diamond worth $20,000.
It doesn't surprise Marty Becker, a veterinarian.
"Dogs are not known for dietary discretion, " Becker told ABC News.com. "They are scavengers by nature."
Becker said he has removed everything from toy sharks to diamond rings from dogs. But the number one item he has removed? Women's underwear.
"It doesn't matter if it's the contents of the litter box, dirty diaper, women's underwear or diamonds. They just swallow it now and think about it later," Becker said.
It's so common that Veterinary News and Sound-Elkin, an animal imaging company, run an annual contest where veterinarians send in X-rays of the craziest items they've seen an animal swallow.
Dogs Eat the Darndest Things
Last year's winner was a 2-year-old hound mix who ingested an astounding 309 nails left over from a construction project.
Honorable mentions included a Labrador with a 5-inch paring knife in his stomach and a retriever mix who swallowed an old telephone cord.