Odd Stories: Dog Gets $30K Line of Credit

Kelly Sloan's daughter,Gabriella, holds up a picture of Spark and his credit card from Capital One

Sarina, Ontario - A dog that died more than ten years ago has been given a credit card by Capital One.

Spark, the dog of Kelly Sloan, was mailed a card for a $30,000 line of credit and told in the letter “We’re not offering our low long-term rate to just anyone.”

The story of Spark getting a credit card started ten years ago. When his father died in 1999, Capital One, with whom Kelly's dad had an account, continued to send information, notices, and updates despite Kelly telling them his father passed away numerous times.

Frustrated, he decided to fill out a form in his dog's name, thinking they would get the idea.  However it didn't and soon his deceased dog started getting offers.


The company, thoroughly embarrassed, issued an apology and an explanation.

“We do comb through to make sure we’re sending them to the appropriate people, but obviously there’s an error here and we apologize,” said Capital One representative Laurel Ostfield. He then said the company collects information in various ways and "somehow" Kely's dog's name slipped through the cracks.

This flies in the face of her next statement: “Once we receive a completed application, we do a number of additional checks that are designed to confirm the information provided is accurate and only legally approved applicants will be considered.”


Kelly has an overall good sense of humor about it, saying “They’ve got the right name, the right address, and it’s a heck of a deal. She can apply online today, and I guess, get her card. With the economy the way it is, I can understand they’re becoming a little more lenient than they were as far as passing out credit cards.”