VPI Hambone Award

Judi Dunn was on the beach and noticed that the shrimpers had dumped their nets near the shore, leaving a large amount of sea grass and live sea urchins on the sand. The sea urchin spines looked sharp and she didn’t want Marley to step on one, so she started throwing them back into the water. Unfortunately, Marley thought they were playing a game of fetch and went after the sea urchins. It didn’t take long before her paws and gums were swollen and she had lesions between her toes.

Judi immediately took her to the veterinarian, who gave her a shot of antihistamines. “I didn’t realize that sea urchins were poisonous,” she says. Judi had her camera around her neck at the time and snapped a photo of Marley with the sea urchin in her mouth. Marley recovered quickly, but had difficulty walking for about five days.