Man's best friend is a lucky dog
By Kate Northrop
LIVE OAK, Fla. — A Florida man who won a $2 million top prize from a scratch-off lottery ticket is giving credit where credit is due — his pregnant pet dog.
Leonard Linton, 42, of Pinetta, says that it's thanks to his lovely little pooch, Ivy, that he won a $2 million prize in the Florida Lottery.
Recently while he was out, Linton received a call that his poor dachshund was not feeling well. He took a different route home to get to her as soon as possible.
He made a quick pit stop at the Stop N Shop grocery store on East Howard Street in Live Oak and picked up a lottery ticket from the Florida Lottery's $10 "100X The Cash" instant game while he was there.
That's when Linton knew he and Ivy were paw-sitively in for a big celebration.
"I still can't believe it," he told the Lottery after being asked whether he has any big plans. "This is life-changing, but I'm definitely getting Ivy a new kennel!"
He and his precious pup took a trip to Lottery headquarters in Tallahassee to collect the winnings, where Linton chose to receive his prize as a $1.645 million lump sum payment.
The Stop N Shop will receive a $4,000 bonus commission for selling the lucky ticket.
Following Linton (and Ivy's) win, there are currently five out of eight top prizes of $2 million remaining in the "100X The Cash" scratch-off game, which launched in January. There are also 12 out of 20 second-tier prizes of $100,000 and 64 out of 101 third-tier prizes of $10,000 left to claim.
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