The owner of a Tagish kennel has been ordered to pay $3,600 to a former dog owner who had boarded her pet there.

Kennel owner Shelly Cuthbert gave the animal away.

In small claims court Friday, Judge Heino Lilles heard the two sides of the dispute over Buddy’s ownership. He listened to both Emerald Gillespie, who owned Buddy, and Cuthbert tell their sides of the story.

Over the course of the hearing, it was learned Gillespie had brought Buddy to a “boot-camp” at the kennel to deal with his behaviour. The animal was later brought back for a reassessment after having bitten a friend of Gillespie’s.

While Buddy was staying at the kennel last July, Gillespie said she told Cuthbert her living situation was not ideal for Buddy and that she’d be looking for a new home for the dog.

Cuthbert agreed to keep the dog there until Gillespie found a home, she said.

In exchange, she agreed to help the kennel out with a fundraiser as well as provide some items she had like leashes and so on.

While she had initially told Cuthbert she’d also provide Buddy’s dog house, after she found a home for Buddy, it was decided the dog house would go there.

“It took me some time,” Gillespie told the court of finding a new home for Buddy.

Attending the fundraiser for the kennel, Gillespie said, “everything was really positive” with Cuthbert.

She was able to visit with Buddy that day and on another day was able to take Buddy, allowing potential owners who were interested in him to take him out.

Then in August, when she contacted Cuthbert to let her know she had found a home in rural Tagish, Cuthbert told her she had actually surrendered Buddy in July.

While Gillespie was able to see Buddy when she arrived to bring the canine to his new home, Cuthbert wouldn’t let her leave the property with the dog, refusing $300 Gillespie offered her for the animal.

No paperwork was provided when Gillespie asked to see the signed document showing she had surrendered Buddy to the kennel.

Gillespie eventually left the property without the dog, letting Cuthbert know she would be back with the authorities.

When she did return with RCMP officers, the dog was no longer at the kennel, as Cuthbert had adopted Buddy out.

The people who adopted Buddy had been travelling to Alberta, and the dog had run off at one of the rest stops on the route.

Gillespie’s lawyer, Graham Lang, pointed out during the case that Gillespie had adopted Buddy from the Mae Bachur Animal Shelter.

In a previous role as the shelter’s executive director, Cuthbert would have known that the agreement between the shelter and those adopting animals includes a clause that the animal be signed back over to Mae Bachur if the new owner ever decides to adopt it out.

Cuthbert confirmed she was aware of the clause, but noted that it was up to Gillespie to deal with Mae Bachur.

“It has nothing to do with me,” she told the court of the agreement with Mae Bachur.

Cuthbert also told the court that in August, she had asked Gillespie why she hadn’t gone through Mae Bachur to deal with Buddy’s next adoption.

Gillespie replied that she didn’t want Buddy to end up there again after the dog had spent more than a year at the shelter.

Gillespie also told the court that staff at Mae Bachur were aware of her plans to find a new home for Buddy and had the paperwork that would be needed ready to go when she found that new home.

Cuthbert also confirmed during the hearing that she did not have written paperwork for Gillespie on the surrender until Aug. 15, after the dispute had come about.

However, it was clear from their discussion in July that Gillespie was surrendering the dog to the kennel, Cuthbert said.

Though the word “surrender” was not used in the correspondences, it was clear that was the intent, Cuthbert argued.

Had Buddy simply been boarding there while Gillespie found a new home, Cuthbert said, she would have charged her standard boarding fees.

In presenting his arguments to the court, Lang pointed out that as soon as Gillespie realized there was an issue over Buddy’s ownership, she took immediate action.

She sought out assistance from the RCMP and then through the courts to deal with the matter.

Meanwhile, he noted, Cuthbert quickly sought to have the dog adopted to new owners of her choosing, knowing that Gillespie was pursuing action to have the dog returned to her.

A reasonable person, Lang said, would not give the dog away knowing that.

Cuthbert maintained throughout her arguments that Gillespie had indeed surrendered the dog to her in July.

Judge Lilles stated he would later provide a written decision while ruling in Gillespie’s favour and ordering Cuthbert to pay Gillespie a total of $3,600.