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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

When Seagulls Attack!


Harley

Poor smooth black and tan dappled 'Harley' can't get a break.  He was just sitting on the patio eating treats at his Ventura, California home last month when he got into a tussle with a seagull.  The event has even been chosen as the most unusual insurance claim in May by Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI).  This puts Harley in the running for the insurance company's annual "Hambone Award."  Excerpt from Veterinary Practice News:

“Harley loves to eat his treats on the patio but we’ve never had a problem with seagulls before,” Robin Baer, Harley's mom says. “The two got into a fight over food. I could tell Harley was injured. He had blood on his nose and some hair missing from around his neck, but he seemed completely unfazed.”
Uncertain about how severe the wounds were, Baer rushed Harley to her veterinarian’s office for an emergency visit.
The dachshund had a cut below his eye and a wound on his neck, where Baer says the seagull tried to pick him up. After some clean-up and a couple of stitches from the veterinarian, Harley was able to go home.
Honorable mentions in May included a West Highland terrier that ate a large amount of sand at the beach, a beagle mix that was stung by a stingray, a Labrador that got a blade of grass stuck in his tonsil, an Airedale terrier that ran full-speed into a wheelbarrow and a pug that ate a dirty diaper. All pets considered for the award made full recoveries.
In September VPI will ask the public to vote for the most unusual claim of the year. The Hambone Award is named for a VPI-insured dog that got stuck in a refrigerator and ate an entire ham while waiting for someone to find him. The dog was found with a licked-clean ham bone and a mild case of hypothermia.

3 comments:

  1. Poor Harley!
    Glad he is ok, but I'd be afraid of birds after something like that. Come to think of it, I am kind of afraid of chickens, ever since one chased me across the yard, flapping her wings. Scary!

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  2. OMD Harley, they must have been some really delicious treats you had to fend your claim on them. Those seagulls are out of control. We were at the beach and one swooped right down and snatched a sandwich from a toddlers fingers. She too was injured. Glad to see you are recooping. They sure have a nerve stealing our treats!!!

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  3. As far as I'm concerned, Harley won. Which is what dachshunds do when food is the issue.

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