Black Lab swallows 13 golf balls

Dunfermline, Scotland -- Chris Morrisonof Dunfermline, Scotland, noticed his Labrador retriever rattled when he walked, but had no idea the dog had swallowed 13 golf balls.

"I felt his stomach and heard them rattling around," said Morrison, who told The Daily Telegraph he regularly takes 5-year-old Oscar for a stroll on a golf course near his home. The black lab, he said, usually snoops around the ninth and 12th fairways for lost balls.

"The vet hadn't seen anything like it -- it was bizarre. I thought he might have had a couple in there, but not 13. He is a black Lab, so he is a fair size -- but to swallow 13 is quite amazing."

The balls were removed two weeks ago in an hour-long operation.

"It was like a magic trick," said veterinarian Bob Hesketh of nearby Rosyth.

"I opened him up and felt what I thought was two or three golf balls. But they just kept coming until we had a bagful."

He said they must have been in Oscar's stomach for months.
"It is incredible, really," he said.

Oscar is recovering on a post-operation diet of watered-down food -- and he now wears a muzzle during his walks, Morrison said.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.