This may be strange topic but I hope someone with animal compassion can advise

[marleymouse]

Re: This may be strange topic but I hope someone with animal compassion can advise

So a nice brief defence along these lines ???

The defendant denies the claim in its entirety.
The relationship between the Defendant and Claimant ended on day month year when the claimant left the partnership and abandoned the dog
to the care of the defendant.
The defendant will show that the claimant failed to contribute to the animal's upkeep or welfare, and effectively abandoned it.

I wouldn't put in a counter claim.
If however she was to lose, she could consider making a separate claim for her costs in maintaining the animal as she will have been deemed by the courts as acting as an involuntary bailee (I don't see the court finding her "unlawfully taking the dog", although they might order its return to her ex)

Thank you for your response des8, I will relay this to my friend x

[marleymouse]

Re: This may be strange topic but I hope someone with animal compassion can advise

UPDATE
My friend was advised her ex has to prove his case and she only has to refute his claim and provide evidence as per des8's post above. There is now a court date & she had to submit her defence & evidence. She has made no detrimental comments about her ex & has stuck to facts in her submitted statement & evidence which include dog food receipts, vet fee receipts & account, old texts from the ex with comments showing he had given her the dog, witness statements from her mother & others who have been living in the house with her and the dog to prove she did not steal it but he gave her full custody & ownership of the dog when they parted.

My friend has received a copy of the evidence her ex has submitted & a lot of it is untrue & contains a good deal of unfounded personal detrimental comments about my friends mental health & spiteful accusations unrelated to the dog. There is a statement from his landlord saying although she did not allow dogs under his tenancy agreement some months after he moved in she unofficially relented & his house mate is says the dog began staying there a month after he had moved in - sadly none of this is true but how can she disprove this? He tried to get the vet to send him the dogs medical records but they declined as the dog is registered to my friend at her address & she is the one who has always paid for the dogs treatment. He has even made numerous untrue & irrelevant statements about how my friends family allegedly treated him throughout their whole 7 year relationship, which are simply not true & clearly an attempt to discredit everyone he once held dear. The new girl friends mother has also submitted a damning letter but other than her ex none of these people know or have ever met my friend or her family, I am astonished at how people will blatantly lie & make assumptions on the strength of another's word. In saying that I know I am technically asking you to comment on my version of events but I do know both parties, have seen this unfold & actually have some empathy for each of them regarding their feelings for the dog.

My friend has endured relentless harassment since this dispute started with people coming to her house on her ex's behalf demanding the dog with menaces, he has sent the police accusing her of theft but they took no action after seeing vet papers etc. concluding his claim was unfounded & part of a domestic dispute. His current girlfriend & her mother called her a dog thief both in a public shop & on social media & even contacted her employer attempting to discredit her (fortunately my friends boss has been very supportive). It has been horrendous for my friend but she has not retaliated in any way & has not disclosed any of this in her statement as she was advised that judges only want to hear facts relating to the case before them & are not interested in what friends 'think' or bitter mudslinging.

A lot of this will be one persons word against another so its difficult to pre-empt the outcome but in hindsight should my friend have included all the harassment she has received. Some of his accusations & comments are nasty, contradictory and irrelevant to the case but would she have fared better giving the harassment details?
What is likely to happen in court, she will have witnesses as I am sure will he, but what will be held relevant? :beagle2222:

[enaid]

Re: This may be strange topic but I hope someone with animal compassion can advise

I would say as long as it can be proven the dog was a gift and not in any way a temporary situation then there is no case to answer to, I am no expert but that is how I thought it went.
I can understand anyone gifting an animal only to find out the animal is being abused or neglected trying to get it back, but reading back it looks like the dog has had the best of everything in its present home and can only hope the Judge accepts this too.
Hope you get a more positive reply and I wish your friend all the best with this purely for the dogs sake.
Enaidx

ps if the dog was supposedly stolen it should have been reported to the police and a crime number issued if that is going in his defence.

[des8]

Re: This may be strange topic but I hope someone with animal compassion can advise

Agree fully with Enaid and the advice not to bother trying to refute irrelevancies.
They will only be a distraction, and more likely to annoy the judge than win him over.
He is going to decide the ownership of the dog, and whether or not that ownership was passed from the ex to your friend.
Best wishes and good luck to her

[des8]

Re: This may be strange topic but I hope someone with animal compassion can advise

Further to the above, it would be well to remember that witness statements should only be a recitation of facts which are known to the witness.
Expressions of opinion,or recitations of facts gleaned from sources other than the witnesses own knowledge, are not allowed.
So the defendant could request the court for an order that the offending statement be reserved with the offending evidence removed.
At trial the defendant could request the court strike out the offending parts of the witness statement.