Owner Chris Morrison had been taking five-year-old black labrador Oscar, round the Pitreavie golf course in Dunfermline for few months.

He took Oscar to the vet after he heard a rattling sound coming from his pet’s stomach. After oversight they discovered 13 balls – each weighing 45 grams – lodged in his stomach.

Mr Morrison, a planning administrator, said one of the balls had been in his stomach so long that it had turned black and was decomposing.

He said: “He finds golf balls like truffles. We’re not sure how long exactly this happened over, but it must have been a fair period – several months at least.

“I felt his stomach and heard them rattling around.

“He normally brings a few home, but I had no idea he had eaten so many.

“The vet hadn’t seen anything like it, it was bizarre.

“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 a successful hour-long operation.
Oscar is now on the road to making a full recovery on a special post-operation diet of watered-down food. He also has to wear a muzzle while out and about. Mr Morrison added:

“He does get a bit frustrated now and again.”

Bob Hesketh, 40, principal vet at Vetrica in Rosyth, said he had never seen anything like it.

He said: “It was like a magic trick. I opened him up and felt what I thought was two or three golf balls.”

“But they just kept coming until we had a bag full.”

“I think they must have been in there for several months, one was all black and the shell was swollen.”

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