Nationwide Insurance released its 2025 Hambone nominees, or the STRANGEST ways pets have injured themselves in the past year. Here are the highlights. Thankfully, they all made a full recovery.
1. Wash: A mutt in Tennessee that got sick because he wouldn’t stop eating cicadas. His owner doesn’t know how many he ate, but it’s all he did every time they let him outside.
2. Maddie: A bulldog in Virginia that ate a preserved alligator. (???) Taxidermists use toxic chemicals, so her owner had to take her in.
3. Ziya: A dog in California that came nose to nose with a loose BULL while out for a walk. He defended his owners and lost a tooth when it kicked him.
4. Hazel: A Great Dane-St. Bernard mix in New Jersey that picked a fight with a groundhog and lost. A bite on her paw earned her a trip to the vet.
5. Salem: The only cat in the running this year. Her owner in New York couldn’t find one of their AirPods and thought she ate it. The AirPod still hasn’t turned up, but she’s okay.
6. Foxtrot: A Great Dane in Texas that stole a full turkey leg from her owner on Thanksgiving and swallowed it whole. The bone had to be removed.
7. Duke: A lab-retriever mix in Ohio that licked some peanut butter off a spatula and ended up swallowing the spatula head.
8. Bella: A Havanese in Illinois that ate an entire bouquet of flowers. Her owner found her covered in pollen.
You can vote for your favorite through Tuesday, August 12th at PetInsurance.com/HamboneAward.
