Updated on
Summary Gary and his wife Moira gave Bailey, the dog, away after he nipped their 2-year-old granddaughter.
A couple have lost their legal fight to get their dog back after a judge told them they are barking up the wrong tree.Gary Rowlinson, 55, and wife Moira, 56, gave sausage dog Bailey away after he nipped their two-year-old granddaughter.Three days later they told the new owner, friend Steven Spencer, they had changed their mind. But he refused to hand the dog back.The couple then unsuccessfully offered £1,000 for the dachsund that had cost them £700. Desperate Mr Rowlinson then launched the legal bid to get Bailey returned – but a judge has thrown the case out even before it went to trial, saying there is no chance they would win.Mr Rowlinson told the court hearing he was the legal owner and that it had been his wife’s decision to give Bailey away. After the hearing, Mr Rowlinson, who was ordered to pay £1,478 costs, said: “Now we have to start trying to forget about it and get on with our lives.”He said he had forgiven his wife for her decision after the dog bit the little girl, claiming: “My wife had been threatened with never seeing her grandchildren again if we kept the dog so you can understand why she did it.”Mr Rowlinson, from Offerton, Gtr Manchester, had told the hearing at Stockport county court: “This has been the worst experience of my life.”Jonathan Dale, representing Mr Spencer, 26, said dog bowls, food and insurance papers were handed to his client when he collected Bailey.District judge Ian Lettall said there was no evidence to suggest Mr Rowlinson’s wife had not acted with his consent. He added that Mr Rowlinson was present when the pet was given away.
