Hi, i hope someone can help me. I have a 3 n half year old kc registered girl she was brought for me as a gift in may 2006, my partner brought her and the paperwork was put in her name. In the September she signed the paperwork so she could be in my name. One month later my partner left our family home one evening when i was out, she cleared the whole house out and at the time we had 14 dogs, 12 of them she took when she left and when i returned home that evening the house was empty and all she had left was my very distressed little girl who still suffers to this day with anxiety if i leave her alone.
About 2 months ago i sent my babys registration off to get it changed into my name as we had puppies on the way. I still had contact with my ex partner and told her i had sent the paperwork off. Two weeks later i received a letter from the kennel club saying that my ex partner is disputing the transfer of ownership. I emailed the kennel club and explained that my ex partner had abandoned my girl over 3 years ago and that she did sign the form... they wrote telling me that i have to sort it out with the previous owner as the kennel club do not get involved in disputes over signatures. I tried to talk to my ex partner but now she is saying that my baby is still hers and wants her back, my baby is still registered in my exs name and i dont have a clue what to do as there is no way i am handing my baby girl back to her especially as she has several breeding dogs of her own already. Every day i am getting nasty texts from my ex telling me to bring her dog back ect, i really dont know what to do.

Unfortunately this might mean a court case. The more proof you have of having looked after the dog on your own for the past 3 years, the better. If you can for instance show she has been to the vet and is registered at the vets in your name, that will help. You can read a bit more here: http://www.doglaw.co.uk/custody.php and if you need to, maybe you should call Trevor Cooper the dog law solicitor for advice, he has a phone line (quite expensive but he is THE top dog solicitor in the UK).  Years ago I took in a dog that the owners no longer wanted and I was worried about them wanting her back one day and he told me then that as long as I could show lots of things like vet records etc in my name I'd have a strong case.

Thanks, i will take a look at the link. Even though my ex says she wants the dog back to the kennel club i have hundreds of texts saying she does not want her back but she will not tell the kennel club the same things. It looks like i will end up in court but i have lots of proof she is mine, i have vets records/vaccinations etc and she is also microchipped in my name but the advice i have been given is that none of this matters as regards my baby being put im my name. My ex is not going to start proceeding against me as she knows i can prove my baby is mine, she don't really want my baby she just wants the paperwork in her name so i can't register her puppies. Personally the paperwork don't matter to me its just a shame that 6 gorgeous puppies cant be registered so their furture owners know their puppy is fit and healthy with a good bloodline.

Is there a particular reason that you didn't send the paperwork off at the time??

no particular reason and i wish now that i had sent it off years ago as i wouldnt be in this situation now. I know i am at fault for not sending the paperwork off sooner. I also wish i hadnt told my ex that i was sending the paperwork back then she wouldnt of made an issue of it.

Well i suppose she isnt legally yours if your ex says shes hers. so it will be a court matter, call her bluff and get a letter from your solicitor threatening to take legal action. This should have all been sorted before you mated her btw, presuming you have if you have pups on the way.

If you can prove she was bought for you as a gift, you should be ok, trying to remember my law a level but i cnt.

how can she legally be hers when she abandoned her over 3 years ago? Surely there must be some law protecting my rights as i have cared for her since she was abandoned. I assume the previous owner would have to take me to court but she has clearly said she dont want the dog back she just won't change the paperwork into my name.

Most puppies sold as pets are never transferred to the new owner's name, doesn't mean legally they belong to the breeder still. :) There's more factors taken into account.

Actually thats very true and im not worried about the puppies being registered as long as they go to loving homes its just a shame that they will not be registered as they are a very good line.

In the eyes of the kc she could still be registered in your ex's name but your her legal owner. BUT as she is disputing this to the kc its a problem. I would ring them again and explain, that your partner is being awkward but you have had her since a pup as she was bought for you and been in your care since your partner left.

I have sent three emails to them but they take days, even weeks to respond. The kennel club wont get involved so i guess my baby will never be in my name as my ex wont budge.

kc reg are a bit like car log books.....they dont prove ownership...:(

how did your ex know you were applying for change of ownership anyway? The KC dont write to current owners and ask if they approve!

If the previous owner has signed the transfer form for you the KC don't check the signatures & should simply do the transfer, they don't check any signatures on anything. I had someone register a litter alleged by my ISDS reg dog quoting his ISDS number(which is available in the ISDS yearly stud book)with the KC. I picked it up by reading the BRS & saw the litter registration. I contacted the KC & managed to get a copy of the litter form & the signature borne no resemblance to mine(my first name was even spelt wrong). The KC did cancel the registrations, but not before they had a letter or two from my barrister friend. Your mistake was telling your ex-did she know that she was in whelp at the time ? You would of course have been safer transferring the bitch before she was mated.

I made the big mistake of telling my ex what i was doing, the certificate was already in my name and was on its was to me when my ex called the kennel club and cancelled the transfer. My baby has 6 gorgeous babies born 2 weeks ago but the transfer has been going on since august as i was sure my baby was pregnant so i knew i had to get it sorted before she had them.
I received a letter from the kennel club today saying the transfer was on hold until the dispute has been resolved and the only way i can do that is to take her to court. Solving this issue through court could take a very long time so i may have to face the fact she will never be in my name, the main reason why i want her in my name is so my ex cant just turn up and take her which is very likely and if that happened then i would have to take her to court to get her back..... the whole thing is seriously upsetting.

As Sam points out though... the kc paperwork is for the KC's records/shows/etc.... it is NOT proof of ownership.

So regardless of who the dog is 'owned' by on the KC paperwork, if you look after her, feed her, provide her insurance and vets bills etc etc and you have the various reciepts and paperwork to prove this, your ex CANNOT just 'take' her and she cannot prove she owns her either.

A court is not going to be interested in whats on the dogs Kennel Club paperwork - what matters is who actually is looking after and acting as the owner (ie person responsible for all the bills and things) - that person is you. She wont be able to prove any different.

Now that doesnt help you sort these pups out, granted - but it does mean she cant take her, and if she    tried to via the courts she would lose.

In total agreement with theemx,

Too much emphasis is put on the KC papers, the KC are a club, nothing to do with ownership, they catagorically will not get involved in disputes, all those papers are good for are entering KC shows and registering litters, nothing to do with ownership, very simply they just won't register the litter under your name jostarkev72 unless your ex will sign the transfer of ownership form. :-(

As already said the dog is yours, nothing to worry about there. :-) I do think your ex is being extremely horrible though, I wish you had sorted all of this out well before your bitch had pups, looks as though they shall just have to go unregistered I'm afraid.

Thank you so much for your replies they have helped me a lot. Its a shame that my ex has to react this way, she already has 12 breeding dogs which i disagree with as she puts them in cages, im so glad that my babies are my pets and loved for who they are rather than a breeding machine!

Could it not be argued that at the time of signature she was fine with it?  Surely because they are not talking now, this should not come into the equation as if he'd sent it off there and then his girlfriend wouldn't of been able to do anything?

> A court is not going to be interested in whats on the dogs Kennel Club paperwork -

That is exactly so.

My ex-husband came to my house while I was out and took my BSD bitch and gave her to complete strangers to spite me.

I coudl do nothing about ti as she was deemed community property even though she was in my name everywhere, the KC, vets etc.

Our local paper ran a piece and the people who had her kindly let me have her back, but legally he was as entiled to dispose of joint 'property' as I was.

Tell her you will send the tax man and rspca her way and see then how she feels?

That is exactly what i told the kennel club perrodeagua, she signed the paperwork over 3 years ago and was fine with it then but the kennel club wont get involved even my solicitor wrote to them and they said i had to go to court.
Im really glad you got your girl back brainless, its heartbreaking when you lose an animal that is loved.