Advertisement

U.S. Treasury Department reimburses Montana man whose dog ate $500

U.S. Treasury Department reimburses Montana man whose dog ate $500

What worse that your dog eating your homework? Your dog eating your money.

Last April, Wayne Klinkel and his wife stopped for a quick dinner on their way to visit their daughter in Colorado.

The Montana couple left their 12-year-old dog, a golden retriever named Sundance, alone in the car for about 45 minutes.

Left to his own devices, Sundance found himself a snack: five $100 bills.

Sundance managed to open the spring-loaded cubbyhole between the two front seats and found the bills tucked inside.

"I knew right way," Klinkel told TODAY, remembering he said to himself, "'Oh no, Sundance,' and I looked in the cubbyhole and sure enough, it was empty...This dog, he's 12. He's been getting weirder and weirder as he gets older, and he will pretty much eat anything and everything."

Fortunately for Klinkel, this story doesn't end with him being $500 poorer.

This month, the U.S. Treasury Department's Bureau of Engraving and Printing reimbursed Klinkel in full — after Klinkel collected pieces of the bills that had passed through Sundance's system.

"It all comes out in the end," Klinkel told the Independent Record. "It was great to get the cheque after all the crap I went through."

Klinkel followed his dog around with rubber gloves and plastic baggies for several days until he found bits of all five destroyed bills. With gloved hands, he soaked the pieces for about a week in "lots of dish soap," rinsed, drained and dried them, then taped the bills together. He then placed each bill in its own plastic bag.

When local banks refused to swap the mutilated bills for new ones, Klinkel submitted them to the Federal Treasury.

The U.S. Treasury Department's Bureau of Engraving and Printing will reimburse individuals with a cheque for the equivalent of their mutilated bills as long as the department is presented with 51 per cent of each bill that needs replacing.

Last Monday afternoon, Klinkel received a cheque for $500.

"I opened it and thought 'holy s—t,'" he said. "I gave Sundance a pat, showed it to him and told him not to eat it."

Klinkel no longer keeps cash in that cubbyhole — "It's locked in the glove box when we travel," he told the Independent Record — nor does he leave Sundance alone in the car anymore.

"No more dogs, ever, will be unattended in the car. We normally don't do that, but we were gone for 45 minutes, tops," he said. "But Sundance, he never quits surprising me."