Before leaving on vacation, the man finally made the tough decision to toss out his dog’s old, tattered skunk toy. It had been his pup’s absolute favorite for years, and he felt a pang of guilt throwing away the cherished stuffed friend, assuming the dog would simply find a new distraction.

However, three days into his trip, he received an urgent call from the dog watcher. She called to ask permission to wash the dog’s “skunk toy” because it “smelled worse than anything she had ever encountered.” The owner, confused, explained the toy had been thrown out. He realized that if there was a bad odor, it wasn’t a toy.

He quickly pulled up the home surveillance cameras, and the truth left him absolutely stunned: His dog, in its absolute innocence, had caught a real skunk and mistook it for a perfect, life-like replica of its old friend. The two had been living in blissful, smelly harmony, even cuddling together for days without the skunk deploying its defensive spray.

Recognizing the gravity (and olfactory intensity) of the situation, the watcher immediately called animal control. Experts arrived, safely retrieved the skunk, and took it to a rehab center since it hadn’t eaten during its strange cohabitation.

When the man returned home, he immediately bought his dog a brand new skunk toy to prevent any further real-life reenactments. When asked about the hilarious ordeal, he could only laugh: “Things are better now, but the funniest part is he keeps bringing me the new toy, fussing over it like it’s broken and needs fixing—he probably misses his old friend!”