Clayton Law withdrew four thousand dollars (€3,700,000) from a savings account he had with his wife, Carrie, last month. The couple was building a fence in the backyard of their Pittsburgh home and contractors were asking for cash payments.
After returning from the bank with a sealed envelope full of $100 and $50 bills, Clayton placed the money on the kitchen counter with the intention of withdrawing it. But he didn't get the chance. Thirty minutes later, he was surprised to find currency notes that had been chewed into small pieces scattered on the ground. He screamed for his wife in panic.
“He was yelling, 'What? Cecil I ate four thousand dollars!''' Gary Law recalled of the incident on the afternoon of December 8. “I thought I'd heard wrong and ran off, but when I saw the commotion I had no doubts. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Oh Cecil I actually did it.”
oh Blonde He lived with the law since he was seven years old. For five years, she controlled the household until the couple's son Rory, now two years old. “Oh Cecil He is a goofy and very demanding dog. We can put a steak on the table and he won't touch it because food doesn't inspire him. But, apparently, the money already attracts him”, explains 33-year-old Gary.
Gary Law
Even the dog was not interested in the things on the counter and did not tear anything there. “He's never done anything bad before, so we're more shocked than angry. We can't believe it,” the husband added. Instead, they asked each other what they could do.
When the dog was curled up on the living room sofa, the owners called the vet. “Assuming it weighs 30kg, they said. As long as he eats, drinks and goes to the bathroom, he'll be fine. If he'd been a smaller dog, it would have been a different story,” says Clayton, 34. . Then they decided they would try to save as much money as they could.
According to Gary, after piecing together the torn bills, they managed to collect around 1500 dollars (1371 euros). Then called the bank and told a manager what had happened. “I felt like a kid telling me that a dog ate his homework. I was surprised when they told me that this sort of thing had happened many times before – and maybe dogs like the specific smell of money.”
Cecil He doesn't eat steaks on the kitchen counter, but he can't resist the smell of money
Clayton and Gary Law
Clayton and Gary Law
The manager explained that the bank would accept bills pasted with full serial numbers visible on the front and back. Generally, the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing also requires that at least half of each note be redeemed.
“Oh Cecil “He was sitting on the sofa with a belly full of $2500 (€2300) and we knew there was only one way to get that money back,” Gary admitted.
According to the husband, that first night, late, the dog vomited some torn 100 notes, but the couple had to be patient and use their good humor to retrieve the rest. Clayton bravely puts on a mask, dons some gloves, grabs a bunch of plastic bags and continues. Cecil Patrol around the yard for the next two days when the dog defecates. Then, with Gary's help, he sorted the waste and washed the torn pieces of bills in the sink with dish soap.
“I never thought I laundered money, but it seems like there's a first time for everything,” the woman says. Only then are its owners Cecil They decided that if they could see the humor in the situation, so could others. They took photos of the dog's nearly one thousand euro meal and posted a video on Instagram.
“This Cecil. He never did a mistake in his life until he ate $4,000,” he captioned it. The footage, which shows the couple washing the money and patiently putting it together like a puzzle, has been viewed more than 175,000 times.
After the newspaper Pittsburgh City Paper After writing about the incident, Gary lay down next to him Cecil And read him the play as a bedtime story. “We can't be mad at him – he's such a friendly dog. People often tell us he's got a human inside him.”
They managed to recover funds of around 1644 euros Cecil By leaving it in the garden, they raised a total of almost 3300 euros. Gary plans to send the scraps of washed-up bills that they failed to stick together to the Treasury Department, hoping to get a refund. Otherwise, the couple say it's the price they have to pay for the family story they'll tell their son.
“We saved at least one of the torn notes so we could create a piece of art and design it to commemorate the whole situation,” Gary revealed. “We will never forget,” he hastens to add.
EXCLUSIVE PÚBLICO/ THE WASHINGTON POST