SAN DIEGO -- A pug in Northern California would have purchased his doggie treats with plastic after being issued a credit card by mail.

FeedRoom

Pug Issued Credit Card

The dog, named Clifford, lives with his owner in Livermore, Calif., in the San Francisco Bay Area. Clifford's owner, Steve Borba, said he was tired of getting spam e-mails, so he signed up for an e-mail account using the name Clifford J. Dog. Eventually, a pre-approved credit card application arrived addressed to Clifford J. Dog, and Borba sent it in as a joke.

"It asked for his mother's name. I put 'Pugsy Malone.' When it asked for a Social Security number, I put nine zeroes, and I even put that this was for a dog and not to send a credit card," Borba said.

The credit card company issued Clifford a card despite the obvious warning on the application, Borba said. After the card arrived, Borba alerted the company of the error and the card was deactivated.

Borba said that Clifford never got to use his credit line.