The King of Rock & Roll’s Teddy destroyed in frenzied attack

A £40,000 teddy bear named Mabel formally belonging to Elvis Presley has been destroyed and £20,000 worth of other teddy bears were mutilated in this horrific attack by one of the guard dogs hired to protect them.

Mabel, a 1909 Steiff teddy made in Germany before the First World War, belonging to eccentric aristocrat was due to appear as a guest 'star exhibit' at the Wookey Hole Bear Collection, housed in the historic paper mill at Wookey Hole Caves, the prehistoric caverns near Wells in Somerset.

An avid collector of Elvis Presley memorabilia bought the bear in a auction in Memphis for a reputed £40,000

The incident occurred this Last Night when one of the security guards and a Dobermann Pinscher dog named Barney were guarding Mabel and the Wookey Hole Bear Collection.

Over a hundred other teddies were hurt in this frenzied attack.

"Barney has been a model guard dog for over 6 years" explained his handler, Greg West 36, of Totterdown, Bristol. "I still can't believe what happened.

Either there was a rogue scent of some kind on Mabel which 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."

A witness reported that the dog went berserk, growling fiercely as it leapt up to grab the antique treasure, before savaging it in front of terrified staff. Mabel's head was quickly severed from her body, but then recovered.

For more information please contact Daniel Medley at...

WOOKEY HOLE 01749 672243

daniel@wookey.co.uk

www.wookey.co.uk