PICS: Mystery of missing wedding ring: The dog ate it!

Mbombela – When a wedding ring disappeared off a dresser, hardly anyone believed an Mpumalanga toddler when he said the dog ate it.

But 2-and-a-half-year-old Charl's honesty was rewarded when a circular object – looking remarkably like a chunky diamond ring – shone for all to see on an x-ray screen at the vet after puppy Ella had swallowed it.

Delmas mother Avanya Höll told News24 on Thursday it had been quite an adventure solving the mystery.

A metal detector played an integral part in the "treasure hunt".

Höll first noticed her jewellery was missing when she jumped out the shower exactly a week ago.
Her wedding ring and earring were not in the box on her dresser, so she called over her son.

Earring spat out

"He said he just rolled the ring on the ground and she [Ella] came and swallowed it. I asked about my earring. He said: 'I gave it to her as well because I thought she was hungry.'"

Crying over the phone when she broke the news of the missing jewellery, Höll told her husband, also Charl, what might have happened and he was "not so pleased".

Her parents had bought Ella for her 6-year-old daughter Adante in January.

The 4-month-old mischievous Schnauzer eventually spat the earring out on Saturday morning.

"My in-laws were with us last week in the bushveld. They all kept asking my son where my ring is. Nobody believed him," Höll said.

"He is quite clever for his age so I don't think he would be saying she swallowed it if she didn't."

The family then stopped at Höll's uncle because he had a metal detector. "It went over her tummy and it started beeping on the one side so we knew it was in there!"

Irreplaceable sentimental value

They phoned the Bapsfontein Animal Hospital, where Ella was sent for an X-ray.

Vet Pieter Engelbrecht told News24 the case was "a bit out of the ordinary".

"This is the first time in almost 20 years that I have seen jewellery in a stomach. You normally see foreign bodies - anything from a piece of cloth to fishing hooks to rubber balls. A bull terrier even ate pants and a shirt. But nothing like this," he said.

Engelbrecht praised Höll's "sharp young boy" for explaining what happened.

The ring, which did not seem to cause the pup much distress while inside her stomach, was surgically removed by the vet on Tuesday night.

Höll said the ring was insured but had irreplaceable sentimental value.

Her husband had been very willing to pay for the surgery, which came to R3 100 plus spaying.

"Ella was walking around like an old lady yesterday. Today she is running and jumping about. I don't think she will eat something my son gives her again!"