The dog/cat ate my jersey...?

[frikativ54]

Have any of you had your game used jerseys or other sports collectibles destroyed by pets? Or other animals for that matter? And if you have, what have you done to protect your stuff? Are there cases that you can buy to protect locker room nameplates from getting chewed on? I ask because my family has two teething kitties.

They have already gotten to some stuffed animals, including my two foot tall plush St. Louis Cardinals Rally Squirrel. Luckily, I have ordered another. But I am especially worried about my one-of-a-kind items, like my Jose Valverde nameplates, which I keep in a room downstairs where the kitties sometimes venture. I don't want them chewing on them.

Let me know if you have any suggestions on pet proofing collectibles and game used memorabilia.

[otismalibu]

[godwulf]

How do you keep or display the nameplates? The ones that I have that aren't either put away in a drawer or on a high shelf are held up by pushpins on the wall. We have some pretty athletic kitties, but none that can hover.

The Phoenix Firebirds mascot costume that I have on a mannequin in the master bedroom got its feet peed on a couple of times, till I decided to place it on top of a desk in a high-ceilinged room and surround the base with other stuff.

It's like having small kids around; you just have to assume that they'll do the worst, dumbest thing when you least expect it and take reasonable precautions.

[frikativ54]

How do you keep or display the nameplates? The ones that I have that aren't either put away in a drawer or on a high shelf are held up by pushpins on the wall. We have some pretty athletic kitties, but none that can hover.

The nameplates are just sitting on the top of my protective hat case for my Valverde all-star cap. The kitties have moved them while running toward the fireplace a couple of times, but they haven't damaged them thus far. I generally keep this door closed, but there are a few times when someone opens it and forgets to close it. The pushpins aren't an option unfortunately, as they would make the person whose room it technically is unhappy. Good idea, though.

[maverick14]

HAHA @ otis' advice

[Ollie]

@ Otis yet

Frik, my Kitty is a precocious little girl so I make sure my Jerseys that I have on display are hanging well out of jumping range and from objects she could jump on to and reach them. She has ignored my World Series nameplate and Rosin bag though which are on a shelf.

[otismalibu]

I was confident that Les would know I was joking.

[34swtns]

Now that is funny, Greg.
I have 2 cats that I love and that's still friggin' hilarious.

[sox83cubs84]

Back when we had 3 dogs in the 1990s, the stupidest one (a Dalmatian named Fireball) tore a huge hole in a Cubs BP jersey of Ed Lynch.

A bigger problem than pets, sad to say, is my wife! Obviously, she's never chewed up a jersey, but twice she has taken boxes/bags with jerseys in them, not bothered to look inside them, and used them as trash bags. I caught both of these instances in the nick of time, but the first would have been devastating. BPH sent me a Bird Celtics and another similarly valued jersey to authenticate (this was about 20 years ago). I left them in the shipping box they came in. She grabbed the box, didn't bother to look in it, and filled it with trash (nothing messy, just discarded paper and envelopes).
I was actually on my way to the garbage chute (we lived in a high-rise at the time) when I realized that paper and envelopes shouldn't be this heavy. I emptied it out in the hallway on the floor and found the two jerseys on the bottom.

These days, that doesn't happen, as the room I keep my jerseys in is one she rarely visits. Still, that was a close call!

Dave Miedema

[metsbats]

Back when we had 3 dogs in the 1990s, the stupidest one (a Dalmatian named Fireball) tore a huge hole in a Cubs BP jersey of Ed Lynch.

A bigger problem than pets, sad to say, is my wife! Obviously, she's never chewed up a jersey, but twice she has taken boxes/bags with jerseys in them, not bothered to look inside them, and used them as trash bags. I caught both of these instances in the nick of time, but the first would have been devastating. BPH sent me a Bird Celtics and another similarly valued jersey to authenticate (this was about 20 years ago). I left them in the shipping box they came in. She grabbed the box, didn't bother to look in it, and filled it with trash (nothing messy, just discarded paper and envelopes).
I was actually on my way to the garbage chute (we lived in a high-rise at the time) when I realized that paper and envelopes shouldn't be this heavy. I emptied it out in the hallway on the floor and found the two jerseys on the bottom.

These days, that doesn't happen, as the room I keep my jerseys in is one she rarely visits. Still, that was a close call!

Dave Miedema

Dave,

I think those dogs got more use out of that jersey than Lynch.