Dog swallows £12,000 diamond

A jewellery dealer was forced to sort through dog waste for three days after his golden retriever swallowed a three-carat diamond he was interested in buying.

George Kaufmann's rescue dog Sollie swallowed the $20,000 (£12,000)-valued gem at a Robert Bernard store in Rockville, Maryland after the owner dropped it, The AP reports.

His business partner Robert Rosin said: "We saw Sollie go for the diamond, gobble it up, we tried to pull it out of his mouth, we couldn't get it, gone."

Kaufmann added of finding the gem: "It was not that pleasant. I followed him, I picked up the stuff, I'd go through the things... I understood what it was like in the gold rush because I felt like I just hit paydirt."

The stone was found after three days before being cleaned and returned to its original owner.