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October 03, 2021

Dog owner reimbursed $500 after dog ate his bank notes

If your dog eats your money, don't fret, it's possible you'll be reimbursed. A Montana man waited six months before the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing sent him a cheque for the five $100 bills his dog scarfed down.

The golden retriever, Sundance, chowed down on his gourmet meal when the bills were stashed in the car's front seat compartment. Once the dog owner, Wayne Klinkel, realized the situation, he followed Sundance around with rubber gloves and plastic bags while waiting for Sundance's meal to pass through the dog's system. More pieces of the bills showed up once the snow melted.

It's a bit of an icky task, but Klinkel washed, dried and ironed the bills before sending them over to the U.S. Treasury. And it looks like his efforts paid off.

“As long as you have 51 per cent of the bill, our examiners work to make sure that the bill identified is genuine, and then you’ll receive a check in the mail once the case is closed,” a spokesperson for the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing told NBC Today.

If you find yourself in a similar unfortunate situation, you can fill out a claim form and send the bank note fragments to the Bank of Canada's Currency Production and Services. If the fragmented notes require a straightforward verification, then requests are usually fulfilled within 30 days of receiving the package. Keep in mind, that only covers banknotes worth up to $500.

There are some tips suggested by the Bank of Canada when it comes to handling damaged bills. When packaging the bank notes, make sure you don't handle them more than needed and if it's stuck to a container, try to send the container with the bill. Don't try to change the bank notes' shape if it's flat or rolled. If you're dealing with contaminated bank notes, the packages should be labelled "dry" or "wet".

Hopefully, when your bill is damaged it's not the same gross situation. But $500 is a lot, if your pet ate it, you'd probably wait for it to poop out the pieces too.

How much money would your dog need to eat before you thought it's worth it to be reimbursed?

Josephine Lim, MSN Money

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Gordon PowersGordon Powers

A long-time fund company executive, Gordon Powers now heads up the Affinity Group, a financial services consulting firm. Gordon was a personal finance columnist for the Globe & Mail for many years, has taught retirement planning...