This Dog Ate an Engagement Ring! (And Lived to Tell the Tale)

Sorry sir, my dog ate my homework. And my engagement ring…

British couple Charlie and Carol Jackson are the proud owners of a beautiful if mischevious labrador named Bear. They’ve been married for nine years, before which Charlie proposed with a gorgeous 1.3 carat diamond engagement ring from Forevermark, a DeBeers brand. The ring came with a hefty price tag of £7,000, and that was a wholesale price Charlie got through his job – the retail price is around £12,000. Basically, it’s not exactly costume jewellery.

One day Carol had left the ring along with her wedding band on her nightstand as she went about her day. Bear saw an opportunity to get a closer look at this enviable bling and took it. Let’s face it, who wouldn’t do the same? When Carol returned to the bedroom, she found her wedding band on the floor and her engagement ring… well, nowhere to be found.

The guilty look on Bear’s face was the final piece of the puzzle, so Charlie and Carol whisked their canine pal off to the vet for an x-ray. Sure enough, in the middle of the x-ray a distinctive ring shape showed up. That’s a dog with some expensive taste!

Thankfully the story has a happy ending: Bear passed the ring naturally with no ill effects, Charlie and Carol got it professionally (and thoroughly) cleaned, and we’re assuming Carol never intends to leave it within doggy reach again.

Fun fact: while the ring showed up in Bear’s x-ray, the actual diamond didn’t. This is because carbon (the material diamonds are made of) appears transparent under x-ray, much like muscle tissue does. That’s one way to find out if your diamond is real!