© Chantelle Stephan - GoFundMe « Bring Lemmy Home »
In 2016, Greg hired Samantha Roberts as a dog-sitter to watch Lemmy, a Newfoundland dog. Samantha would walk him for an hour, take care of him and then take him home.
A huge affection for the Lemmy
But within a few months, Samantha became so attached to Lemmy that she would take the dog all day and sometimes not give him back when Greg was done working. She also started taking Lemmy to service dog training classes. She even started a business using Lemmy as a model to train other people's dogs. At the time, Greg knew Lemmy was taking training classes with her, but he thought it was to learn simple commands, not to start a business.
She takes the news badly
In August 2019, Greg told Samantha that he was going on holiday with Lemmy for a week. The young woman refused, stating that it was her service dog. He then received the following message from the young woman: "I have taken the dog to an unknown location and I am looking for a custody lawyer for Lemmy."
Greg decided to take legal action to get his dog back.
He submitted a receipt worth $1,200 for the purchase of Lemmy in March 2016, and checks for doggy daycare services between December and February 2018.
Her lawyer is seeking joint custody
Samantha has hired a lawyer to argue on her behalf. Her lawyer asked the judge for joint custody of the dog. The judge found that Greg was Lemmy's legal owner and ordered that he be returned immediately. That was in November 2021 and Lemmy is still with Samantha, as her lawyer got the dog to stay with her while she appeals. Whether or not the Ontario Court of Appeal will grant the appeal will finally be known within a few weeks. Greg has not seen his dog since 2019.
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