A taste for the finer things in life 品味生命中更美好的事物

Tina Burlett shows off her ring beside her dog, Missy, at her home in Raisinville Township, Michigan, US. Feb. 6, 2007. 2007年2月6日，蒂娜•柏麗特在美國密西根州萊斯因維爾鎮的家中，在狗兒蜜西身旁展示戒指。 (照片：美聯社) PHOTO: AP

Tina Burlett thought someone had broken into her house and stolen her custom-made, US $5,000 wedding ring, so she called the police, who filed a report.

But Burlett's grandmother already had a suspect in mind: the family pooch.

X-rays proved the grandmother right. The valuable ring was inside the belly of Burlett's pit bull, Missy, who has a taste for diamonds.

"I couldn't believe it," Burlett said. "I didn't think so at the time, but it's funny now."

It made sense since Missy has been caught gnawing on VCRs, electric blankets and even Burlett's diamond earring.

Dr. Linda Fung of the Country Creek Animal Hospital said she wasn't surprised to learn that Missy swallowed jewelry.

"I did have a dog [who ate] a watch once," Fung said. "Animals swallow a lot of stuff. It's not an unusual thing. We just made her throw it up."

Fung gave Missy some peroxide. The ring came out fine.

(AP)

蒂娜．柏麗特以為有人闖空門，偷走她價值五千美元的訂做婚戒，所以她就報警備案。

不過柏麗特的祖母早就想到嫌犯是誰了︰家裡養的狗。

X光證明祖母是對的。這枚珍貴的戒指就在柏麗特的比特鬥牛犬的肚子裡。這隻叫蜜西的鬥牛犬有鑽石級的品味。

柏麗特表示︰「我不敢相信，我當時不這麼覺得

，但是現在覺得很好笑。」

這一點也不奇怪，因為蜜西曾被抓到咬錄放影機

、電毯，甚至柏麗特的鑽石耳環。

鄉間小溪動物醫院的琳達芳醫師表示，對於蜜西吞下珠寶，她並不感到驚訝。

芳醫師表示說︰「我曾經有隻狗吞下一只錶。動物會吞下很多東西，這沒什麼大不了的。我們只要讓她吐出來就好。」

芳醫師給蜜西服下一些過氧化物，戒指完好地掉出來。

（美聯社╱翻譯︰鄭湘儀）

Today's Words 今天單字 1. custom-made adj. 訂做的 (ding4 zuo4 de5) 例: Sarah's parent's splurged on a custom-made motorcycle for their round-the-world trip. (莎拉的雙親為了環球之旅，砸錢訂做摩托車。) 2. pooch n. 狗 (gou3) 例: You often see Taiwanese girls in their mid-twenties carrying pooches in their handbags. (你可以經常看到二十五歲左右的台灣女生，手提袋裡裝著小狗。) 3. gnaw v.i. /v.t. 啃咬 (ken2 yao3) 例: The mice had gnawed through the phone wire. (老鼠咬穿了電話線。)