As It Happens4:59This Labradoodle ate $4K in cold, hard cash. Most of it came back out
Carrie Law was working from home last month when she heard her husband shouting in a panic: “Cecil ate the money!”
Cecil is the Pittsburgh couple’s beloved pet Labradoodle. And the money was $4,000 US in crisp $50 and $100 bills, withdrawn earlier that day and set aside on the counter to pay for a landscaping project.
Now the couple is withdrawing the cash again — but not from the bank.
“My husband, who I joke is like the true hero of this story, followed Cecil around the yard and was picking up anything that Cecil was dropping off, and we’d kind of knock off the solids and start washing it all,” Law told As It Happens guest host Megan Williams.
“We have been joking a lot about money laundering in the house.”
$3,500 retrieved so far
The couple’s first concern wasn’t for the cash; it was for Cecil.
“We had talked with our vet. They said he should be fine. He’s a big dog, as long as he’s acting normal, you know, don’t worry about it,” Law said. “But he did get sick.”
That evening, Cecil vomited, and out came several intact bills.
“In the morning we washed all of those off and we realized, you know, maybe he’s going to pass some the other way and we’ll be able to get some more money back,” she said. “And we did.”
Their bank told them they’d take back any money with a visible serial number. Some of the cash, she says, was shredded beyond recognition. But, so far, they’ve managed to salvage about $3,500 — albeit a little worse for wear.
“We kept rinsing it with soap over and over just because we kind of wanted to feel comfortable handling it. And we knew if we were bringing this to the bank, they needed to feel comfortable handling it,” Law said. “So that took a lot of time.”
She documented the process on her Instagram account.
Cecil is normally not much of a troublemaker, Law said. He knows which toys are his, and which ones belong to the couple’s son. And until his great money heist, he’d never before jumped up onto the counter.
Nevertheless, Law says she doesn’t hold it against him.
“He didn’t do this on purpose.” she said. “He’s such a sweet dog. It’s just one of these crazy things that happens.”
Pittsburgh dog owners Clayton and Carrie Law found themselves in an expensive situation after their dog, Cecil, chewed up $4,000 US cash left on the counter for a contractor.