A dog had to have 13 golf balls removed from its stomach after eating them on walks around a Fife course.

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

He took Oscar to the vet after noticing a rattling sound coming from his pet's stomach.

They then discovered that 13 balls - each weighing 45 grams - were 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.

He is a black lab so he is a fair size, but to swallow 13 is quite amazing Chris Morrison

"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.

Bag full

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.