In February, a veterinarian in Portland performed surgery on a three-year-old, 140-pound Great Dane to remove a mysterious blockage from its stomach. It didn't take long for the doctor to determine the source of the obstruction: 43 and a half undigested socks lodged in the dog's belly.

"We opened up his stomach and kept removing sock after sock of all different shapes and sizes," Dr. Ashley Magee at DoveLewis Animal Hospital told KGW. It's unclear what happened to the other half a sock.

Shawna Harch, a spokeswoman at DoveLewis, said the dog was released the next day and has fully recovered.

The surgery is just now making news because the vet entered the x-rays into the annual "They Ate WHAT?" contest at Veterinary Practice News. Despite the compelling x-rays (one of which is pictured below), the story of sock-hungry dog placed just third, losing out to an exotic frog who somehow swallowed 30 rocks and a German shorthaired pointer who downed a metal shish kabob skewer.