Dog eats owner's passport one week before destination wedding

Aug. 21 (UPI) -- A Boston man whose dog ate his passport just over a week before his planned wedding in Italy said he was given an emergency appointment at the Boston Passport Agency.

Donato Frattaroli and his fiancee, Magda Mazri, went to Boston City Hall on Thursday to fill out their intention of marriage forms ahead of their planned Aug. 31 wedding in Italy.

They arrived home hours later to discover their dog, Chickie, aka Chicken Cutlet, had chewed up Frattaroli's passport, with just over a week remaining until their flight on Friday.

"Our extremely cute 1.5-year-old golden retriever decided that maybe she doesn't want us to go away to get married, so she hopped up on the counter and decided my passport was a nice new toy to play with," Frattaroli told the Boston Herald.

Frattaroli and Mazri contacted the offices of Rep. Stephen Lynch and Sen. Ed Markey for help. They said both replied quickly, saying they were happy to help expedite the process.

Frattaroli was originally told the earliest he could get a passport appointment would be Thursday in Atlanta, less than one day before his flight to Italy departs, but he said Monday morning that he was able to secure an emergency appointment with the Boston Passport Office.

"The most important day of my life is coming up, I've got to make sure I'm there for it. It's almost like the 'dog ate my homework' excuse but with slightly bigger ramifications," he said.

He said he expected to leave his Monday appointment with a new passport.

Frattaroli confirmed on Facebook the situation was "all worked out."