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Barney with handler Greg Wise survey the wreckage at the bear exhibit.

ELVIS Presley's very own £40,000 teddy bear, owned by a North Newton aristocrat, has ended up All Shook Up after a guard dog supposed to be protecting it "went on the rampage".

Sir Benjamin Slade had allowed Wookey Hole Caves to borrow antique Steiff bear Mabel for an exhibition, little realising the cuddly character would end up falling prey to a four-legged Devil In Disguise.

Hound Dog Barney, a doberman pinscher, had been let into the display room on Tuesday at around 8pm by handler Greg West to check nothing was amiss before the Wednesday morning opening.

But something about the rare centrepiece proved Too Much for the mutt, and the bears were in for a big surprise. Barney launched at the teddy, taking A Big Hunk O' Love out of it with its teeth.

A big bite was taken out of the chest, causing the head to virtually fall off, before the "model guard dog" turned its attention to the other bears in the exhibition. The end result was teddy bear carnage.

"I had been stroking Mabel and saying what a nice little bear she was, so it could have been jealousy," 36-year-old Greg explained afterwards.

"Either that or there was a rogue scent of some kind on Mabel which switched on Barney's deepest instincts.

"Barney has been a model guard dog for over six years. He's never done anything like this before."

Ironically, Wookey Hole's insurers had insisted on 24-hour security for the collection as it was valued at more than £500,000.

Together with Mabel, the exhibition featured the original Sooty and Sweep puppets and toys from the British Bear Collection and Wareham Bears.

The attraction's general manager Daniel Medley told the Mercury: "The dog just got straight on the bear and just ripped a great chunk out of it. The guard wrestled it out of its mouth and it just went on the rampage.

"We are looking at £50-60,000 worth of damage altogether throughout all the bears - it was utter carnage.

"I came in Wednesday morning and there were bits of teddy bear everywhere. He made quite a mess of a lot of them. It's ironic really because the doberman is a German dog and so was Sir Benjamin's bear."

A Maunsel House spokesman for Sir Benjamin Slade, who was said to be "very unhappy", said he did not want to speak to anyone about what had happened.

It is understood that Sir Benjamin, a keen collector of Elvis memorabilia, paid £40,000 for Mabel at auction in Memphis.

9:02am Sunday 13th August 2006

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