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"Life’s a bitch," moan club members | |||
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May 30, 2004; Source: AnyoneForTee Golfers go barking mad after female Alsatian swallows 28 golf balls By Anyone For Tee’s veterinary correspondent Kay Nein | |||
UK. Vets have recovered 28 golf balls from a dog’s stomach, which she swallowed while walking with her owner. Libby, an 18-month-old German Shepherd, took a liking to the balls during her daily walks with owner Mike Wardrop, bar manager at the Didsbury Golf Club in Greater Manchester. "It got to the stage where she would pick up four or five balls every day," said Mr Wardrop. "She would bring them to me and I’d have a laugh – but I had no idea she was wolfing them down as well." Libby’s owners first noticed something was wrong when the dog’s shape began to transform from the classic German shepherd form into something resembling the club’s driving range. One ball had even entered the vein of the hapless hound’s back paw, leading to a sharp dog-leg left. Later the dog began to whimper, a symptom initially dismissed as a little Alsatian whine.  But fears began to mount that Libby had gone barking mad from BSE (ball swallowing ecstasy). Fearing a balls-up over the dog’s diet, the owners consulted club member and aging local Asian animal doctor (a Vietnam vet), high handicapper Me Lai Seven. To Mr Wardrop's shock, Me Lai and his assistant John (pictured here during surgery) discovered 6lbs of golf balls in Libby's stomach in the course of a two-and-a- half-hour operation which cost £600. "We found Nike, Callaway, Top Flite... all the top brand names," he said, "and right at the top, of course, was a Pinnacle. The only thing we didn’t find was a Slazenger, but apparently they’re Libby’s pet hate. She can't stand cats, you know."The veterinary expert said the case is unique. "There’s nothing unusual about a Shepherd feeling crook," he said, "but in all my years of neutering dogs I’ve never removed 28 balls in one day."  Libby’s 28 over paw score may have caused merriment in some quarters but her culinary tastes have driven a bitching wedge between club members. "I’ve lost scores of expensive balls around this course," complained 23-handicapper Mona Lot. "I’ve spent hours searching for them only to find they’re ending up as dog tucker. No wonder I never Winalot." Mrs Lot has called for Libby to be banned from the course. "I know one swallow doesn’t make a summer but 28 of them do," she said, adding without a paws, "Either the dog goes or I do."But club captain Woody Shank was opting for the latter. "She – Mona not Libby – is such a bitch," he told Anyone For Tee. "Mona’s game has always been a dog’s dinner. It’s her who should be hounded off the course."  Mr Wardrop (pictured here behind his bar) said he hit the woof when he heard of the proposal to ban Libby. "She’s my pedigree chum," he said emotionally, defending the dog’s actions by pointing out that she had only swallowed and not chewed the balls. "That shows that Libby’s bark is worse than her bite," he added.The matter is due to be resolved at an extraordinary AGM (Alsation Gulping Menace) of the club next month. On the agenda also is a motion to change the Club's crest (see below left), as the current design includes two dogs apparently salivating at the prospect of eating seven golf balls of uncertain origin which adorn the crest's crown. A request from the publishers of AFT: | |||
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