Pickles (dog)

Pickles (d. 1973) was a black and white mongrel dog renowned for his role in finding the stolen Jules Rimet Trophy in 1966.

Overview

The trophy was stolen during a public rare stamp exhibition at Westminster Central Hall, on Sunday afternoon 20 March four months before the 1966 FIFA World Cup in England. The thief ignored rare stamps with a value of £3 million to steal the trophy which was worth £3,000 at most. Police received a £15,000 ransom demand, but when they arrested the culprit he turned out to be a hoaxer. The trophy was found just seven days later wrapped in newspaper at the bottom of a suburban garden hedge in Beulah Hill, South Norwood, South London, by Pickles while taking a walk with his owner David Corbett. [cite news | first=ALASTAIR | last=REID | coauthors= | title=The World Cup | date=1966-09-10 | publisher= | url =http://www.newyorker.com/archive/content/articles/060703fr_archive01 | work =The New Yorker | pages = | accessdate = 2007-02-02 | language = ] When England won the trophy, as a reward, Pickles was invited to the celebration banquet and was allowed to lick the plates clean. His owner collected a £6,000 reward. The thief was never caught. [The Sunday Times "Illustrated History Of Football" Reed International Books Limited. 1996. p133 ISBN 1-856-13341-9]

Pickles died by choking on his own lead while chasing a cat. [cite news | first=Paul | last=Fleckney | coauthors= | title=How Pickles the dog dug up the accursed World Cup | date=2006-06-10 | publisher= | url =http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/mostpopular.var.790191.mostviewed.how_pickles_the_dog_dug_up_the_accursed_world_cup.php | work =This Is Local London | pages = | accessdate = 2007-02-02 | language = ]

An entirely fictional version of the story was told in a 2006 ITV drama written by Michael Chaplin, called "Pickles: The Dog Who Won The World Cup". He was voiced by Harry Enfield. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0814261/]

References