SWORN AFFIDAVIT FROM SUNNY"S OWNER

This affidavit was signed in the presence of Colvin Houston a solicitor in Ayrshire. Mr Houston made it quite clear to Sonny's owner that signing the affidavit was the same as swearing an oath in court. Sonny's owner had nothing to gain from this case.

17 April 2007

To Whom It May Concern:

After learning of the events regarding Greenways Kennels, owned by Mrs Karen Jones, and German Shepherd Rescue UK I feel it is necessary to explain the chain of events according to myself and my husband as the original owners of Sonny, the dog at the centre of this dispute. Everything to follow will be explained in chronological order to maintain clarity.

I am an animal lover and in particular a dog lover. Like most dog lovers, I have a favourite breed, German Shepherds – a breed my family has always had and would have again. During 2006 my husband and I, after a lot of consideration, decided to get a German Shepherd puppy. We returned to the same breeder in London as we had got our previous two German Shepherds from, as they had grown into fantastic dogs in all respects. I paid £600 for Sonny, our new 8-week puppy, and an additional £400 in petrol money for the trip to London and back. It was money well spent, as Sonny was an excellent dog, but a typical boisterous puppy.

However, I then found out I was pregnant with twins. Something I had not anticipated and something I feared I could not combine with raising a German Shepherd. Not long after the birth of my twins in October 2006, my father organised for Kilmarnock Police to come out to see if Sonny could be a suitable police dog. Sonny ran and hid as soon as the police came in, so he was no police dog – he was simply too nice and sweet. Kilmarnock Police told my father to call Karen Jones at Greenways Kennels. My father called in the morning and by the afternoon Karen Jones was loading Sonny into the back of her Pets On The Move van. I saw neither German Shepherd Rescue UK documentation nor any other documentation. I never signed anything regarding handing over Sonny to Karen Jones or German Shepherd Rescue UK. None of Sonny’s numerous belongings were taken, every toy, bed, lead, bowls and collars were all left behind – Karen Jones told me Sonny would not need anything. The only thing she took was the papers I had got from the breeders.

Two weeks later, mid-October 2006, I received a phone call from Karen Jones to say she was keeping Sonny as her own pet. She told me that Sonny now lived indoors with her family and was not staying in kennels. She told me her husband had fallen in love with Sonny the instant she had brought him out the car. I was elated; Sonny had found his new forever home with Karen. I felt a sense of relief that Sonny was ok.

The next I heard was on 29 December 2006 when I got a message on my answering machine from Oaks Veterinary Surgery asking me to call a phone number. To my surprise, the number put me through to Karen Jones at Greenways Kennels. Karen Jones then gave me the worst news possible. She told me Sonny was to be put down. There was a 28-day destruction order placed on Sonny and after that time he would be killed. She told me the reason for this was because Sonny had bitten someone, had ‘went’ for someone else and that there were £500 of outstanding kennel fees due. To say I was shocked was an understatement. Firstly, Sonny had failed to become a police dog because he ran and hid from the police officers, so why had he started biting people? There was never any explanation as to how and why these biting incidences arose if in fact, they did actually happen. Secondly, where did the kennel fees come from because Karen Jones had told me she was keeping Sonny as her own pet? I told Karen Jones I was not pleased about what was happening and that I would like to come and see Sonny before he was put down. Karen Jones said no, she said that Sonny was now a kennel dog and couldn’t mix with people and that I wouldn’t recognise him because he was “a bag of bones”. I spent the remainder of the day and evening crying for my poor Sonny, who I had loved and who I thought I’d given to a good home.

Until German Shepherd Rescue UK contacted me in April 2007 I thought Sonny was dead, as Karen had never told me otherwise. I was so happy when I found out that Sonny was alive and well and finally in a real forever home. I was reduced to tears when I saw the pictures of Sonny after his stay at Greenways Kennels, with his ribs protruding from his sides. As a very well bred dog, he should have been very well built. It looked as though he had never been fed the whole time he was with Karen. I was shocked and disgusted at the turn of events when German Shepherd Rescue UK called to ask permission to change Sonny’s ownership to his new owner’s name and address. I was very pleased when German Shepherd Rescue UK told me it had taken a week to re-home Sonny and that he was very settled with his new owners.

At no point did I think Sonny was under the care or responsibility of German Shepherd Rescue UK, therefore, see no reason as to why Germen Shepherd Rescue UK should be liable for kennel fees.

Yours truly,

Mrs *****