A Pennsylvania couple had to quite literally sift through shit after their dog Cecil chomped down on $4,000 of cold hard cash.
The seven-year old goldendoodle, who was described as “normally a good boy“, ate the cash as it sat on the kitchen counter.
“Suddenly Clayton yelled to me, ‘Cecil’s eating $4,000!!!!!’,” owner Carrie Law told the Pittsburgh City Paper.
“I thought, ‘I cannot be hearing that.’ I almost had a heart attack.”
The money had reportedly been withdrawn from a joint savings account just 30 minutes earlier.
The couple immediately rang the vet to see if he needed medical attention, however were informed that, because of his size, he just needed to be monitored at home.
The couple then focused on trying to salvage the money, gathering the unchewed bills and then turning to the remains of the chewed ones.
The dog vomited up a few bills, or pieces of them, but for the rest the couple had to… wait. And yep, that means exactly what you think it does.
“There we are at the utility sink,” Law said.
“[We were] washing this shitty money, yelling ‘Yay! Yes! We got one!’ It smelled so bad.”
Law said it took days and involved sifting through every drop in order to find all the scraps.
According to the bank, this happens somewhat often and there is a process in place. In the US, if you can stitch together 50% of the serial number, the bank will take the money and replace it with a fresh note.
In Australia, full value is only paid if 80% of the banknote is presented. If between 20% and 80% is presented, the amount paid is equivalent to that lost (e.g. $5 value for half of a $10 banknote). No money is paid for less than 20%.
All up, the work paid off and the couple lost just $450 in the ordeal.
For me, the real question is what point is it not worth sifting through? For $20, I’d probably count my losses. But for $4k, pass the gloves.
