A Hungarian Vizla puppy has become the subject of a legal wrangle in the Johannesburg High Court involving a breeder and the owner of another male dog.
The male mated with the breeder’s dog to produce a litter of highly sought-after puppies.
In terms of the contract, the owner of the male, named Cody, was allowed to choose the best pup as payment.
But the bone of contention arose as Charlie, the female, only produced one pup. Cody’s owner wanted to claim the pup, but Charlie’s owner refused.
Aggrieved, Cody’s owner, Willie Wolmarans, turned to court to force breeder Tania Davey-Smith to give him what he regarded as his pup.
Wolmarans asked for an order to declare an oral agreement between them to be a binding agreement as well as specific performance.
Both parties agreed Cody would be used to mate with Charlie, and that this was by way of an oral agreement.
On July 17 last year, Cody was transported to the breeder’s kennel by Wolmarans’ son. He asked Davey-Smith when he could collect the puppy. The respondent said it would be best if the puppy be collected at six weeks of age. But then only one puppy was born, namely Ocean, a male.
Wolmarans’ version, set out in an affidavit, is that he would receive compensation for the use of Cody by Davey-Smith in the form of one puppy born from the litter. But despite the terms of the oral agreement and subsequent demands, she failed to deliver the puppy.
Wolmarans said from the outset, the parties never discussed a situation that if only one puppy was born and it was male, that in such an event the puppy would remain with the breeder.
He said it was made clear from their WhatsApp conversations that he would produce Cody for breeding in return for a puppy. Accordingly, he argued, the breeder reneged on the terms of the agreement.
Davey-Smith said when Cody first arrived at Roxstar Kennel, she posted his arrival on her website and created a WhatsApp group of people who would be interested in puppies with Cody and Charlie’s bloodline.
She then contacted Wolmarans for the mating between Cody and Charlie. This agreement was initiated by her, she said, and she specifically told Wolmarans that she wanted a male puppy from the litter and that she would have first choice over the said litter.
Upon the birth of Ocean, she told Wolmarans that the pup was male, and if paternity tests confirmed Cody was the father, then Ocean would be staying with Roxstar Kennel as per the agreement. During the conversation, she said, she also informed him that she would only proceed with the mating arrangement on condition that Wolmarans transfer ownership of Cody to her, so she could register Cody with the Kennel Union of South Africa.
This, she said, was not to take physical ownership of Cody, but to ensure Roxstar Kennel would acquire all rights with regard to Cody’s progeny from the litter and that the pups would be registered as Roxstar Kennel Hungarian Vizlas.
Davey-Smith says Wolmarans agreed. But when only one pup was born, she asked Wolmarans whether he would want Cody to try to have another litter with one of her other dogs, called Beetroot. He agreed, she said.
Davey-Smith said it was agreed that Wolmarans would get a pup as stud fee, but it was also agreed that she, as breeder, would have first choice on any male puppy born from this litter. She said the sole purpose of the mating was to ensure she had a healthy male pure-bred Vizla, she could use as a stud.
But, it seems that for now, Ocean will remain with the breeder, as Judge Dario Dosio said there is so much in dispute, that he cannot decide the issue by means of affidavits and not oral evidence. He dismissed the application.
Pretoria News