Diamond-loving dog swallowed $20,000 gem

ROCKVILLE, Md., March 15 (UPI) -- The owners of a Maryland jewelry store said a $20,000 diamond dropped in the shop by a dealer was immediately snatched up and swallowed by their dog.

Robert Rosin, one of the owners of Robert Bernard Jewelry Store in Rockville, said a diamond dealer brought the three-plus carat rock to the store to show the owners and dropped the valuable gem on the floor in front of Soli, a rescue dog owned by George Kaufmann, another owner of the store, WJLA-TV, Washington, reported Monday.

"Twenty thousand dollars -- that is all I could think about," Rosin said.

Kaufmann said a vet told him the best way to get the diamond out of Soli's belly was to wait for it to pass by natural means.

"It was not that pleasant," Kaufmann said. "I followed him; I had to pick up his stuff; I had to go through the things. I can understand what it was like in the old Gold Rush. I felt like I had just hit pay dirt."

He said the diamond came out after three days and was returned to the dealer.

"It was a happy ending to say the least," Kaufmann said.