US Treasury buys Wayne Klinkel's 'dog ate my money' story, sends $500

A MAN who reassembled parts of five $100 bills eaten by his golden retriever has been reimbursed by the US Treasury for the "mutt-ilated'' currency.

Dog Eats Cash: after golden retriever, Sundance, ate five $100 bills, his owner sendt the remains to the US Federal Reserve. Photo: AP Photo/The Independent Record, Eliza Wiley

A MAN who reassembled parts of five $100 bills eaten by his golden retriever has been reimbursed by the US Treasury for the "mutt-ilated'' currency.

The Independent Record reports Wayne Klinkel of Helena received a $US500 ($533) cheque on Monday.

His 12-year-old dog, Sundance, downed all but half of one of the bills in December. Sundance snacked on the cash in the family vehicle while Mr Klinkel and his wife ate at a restaurant. They were on visiting their daughter in Colorado.

Mr Klinkel says he carefully picked through the dog's droppings to recover parts of the bills and his daughter recovered more when the snow melted.

Mr Klinkel cleaned and reassembled the bills, put them in plastic bags and sent them to the US Treasury in April.