Owner receives letter granting dog unemployment benefits

SAUGATUCK, Mich. – Michael Ryder had been approved for $360 every week in Michigan unemployment benefits — until the state learned he’d been dogging it at the Detroit-area restaurant chain where he supposedly worked.

Ryder is a German Shepherd owned by attorney Michael Haddock on the other side of the state in Saugatuck.

WZZM-TV reports that Haddock received a benefits letter addressed to “Michael Ryder” from Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency. The station says Haddock contacted the agency about the letter.

The agency says its computer system sent the letter, but the claim later was flagged as suspicious and denied.

Investigations administrator Tim Kolar wrote in a tongue-in-cheek email that he knows “first-hand it is rare for ‘man’s best friend’ to contribute financially to the household and that will continue in this instance.”