A Missouri couple wanted a new home, but wasn't sure about a new dog. What they got were both, a house and dog, in the same deal.
Jared and Whittnie Essner said they looked at about a dozen homes in Scott City, Mo., before they found one they wanted to buy. So they made an offer. The owner said he would accept their price with an added condition: They had to take his dog Rocky along with the house.
The owner, a 90-year-old man entering a nursing home, explained that he could no longer care of Rocky and wanted to find him a home with lots of love.
The Essners took the deal. A realtor handling the transaction told the Associated Press that she had never seen a contract like it. Rocky was in black and white under personal property to stay, she said.
The former homeowner has visiting rights, and Jared Essner said the elderly man felt a lot better about the deal once he met the couple and knew that they would give his dog a good home.
Posted: March 9, 2006, 3 p.m. EST