LuLu the Pacifier-Eating Bulldog Wins Hambone Award

An English bulldog from the St. Louis 'burb of Warson Woods has won Veterinary Pet Insurance Co.'s Hambone Award for the most bizarre pet injury of the year.

As reported here in Daily RFT, the bulldog named LuLu went to the veterinarian last December where surgeons removed a bottle cap, a piece of basketball and 15 pacifiers from the canine's belly. (See an X-ray of LuLu's belly.)

For the six months prior to the operation, LuLu's owners -- Jennifer and David Zwart -- thought their child's pacifiers had simply disappeared under furniture or fallen from the stroller during walks. That is, until she saw LuLu licking a pacifier that later went missing.

LuLu beat out another dozen curious animal injuries in winning the Hambone Award. As the winner, LuLu and her owners received a bronze trophy in the shape of a ham, a gift basket and an upcoming appearance on the the Rachael Ray Show, in which Ray will presumably teach the family how best to prepare a scrumptious pacifier dish.