Dog Fight
It is a rare breed, this custody battle. At the center of the tug of war is Guinness, a 123-pound Rottweiler affectionately named for the potent Irish brew.
Last year, when the couple who cared for him broke up, Guinness stayed at Patti Dalby’s Newport Beach home, where he romps in a huge yard and enjoys mangling plastic trash barrels.
But C. Brooks Brann, Dalby’s former boyfriend, misses Guinness. He wants his “best friend and loyal companion” flown to his new home in Montana.
Unlike the vast majority of pet custody cases, the battle for Guinness appears heading for court. Brooks has filed a lawsuit seeking possession of Guinness and $25,000 in damages. Dalby refuses to turn the 4-year-old animal over and says she will fight to keep the pet, whose black and tan coloring resembles that of a Guinness Extra Stout label.
Both sides have rejected shared custody and visitation arrangements that are often used to settle such cases. Attorneys and other experts say if the case goes to trial, it could be a first for the county. A trial-setting conference is scheduled Wednesday at Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach. A trial could take place by summer.
“She says she owns Guinness; he says he owns Guinness,” said Robert Newman, Dalby’s Santa Ana-based attorney. “It’s apparently going to take a judge to say who owns Guinness.”
Determining pet custody can be among the simplest of legal tasks. State law considers animals property, so whichever party can prove ownership will likely get to keep Guinness. If ownership cannot be established, a judge can grant custody to the person deemed to be the better caretaker.
Dalby, a 55-year-old office manager for an Irvine apparel company, said she would win on both counts: Guinness is her property and is far better off living in California than Montana.
Wanting a playmate for her other Rottweiler, Dalby said she and her son claimed Guinness from a rescue shelter in 1996. She said she has the proper licenses and receipts to disprove Brann’s ownership claim.
Aside from the ownership question, Dalby said Guinness would suffer if “torn apart” from her other Rottweiler, Roxie.
The two dogs have shared the yard for three years, she said, and have developed a deep bond not unlike that of a husband and wife, she said.
The protective Guinness barks menacingly if strangers approach the calmer, arthritic Roxie. Each dog erupts in barks if the other chews on the wrong bone. The dogs, Dalby said, can’t stand to be apart.
“They just love each other tremendously. They’re very bonded. In the morning they lick each other’s faces like they’re kissing,” said Dalby, adding that Guinness didn’t even notice when Brann, a former bar bouncer, moved out.
“Guinness didn’t miss him at all when he left,” said Dalby of her boyfriend of three years.
Brann, however, contends he never had a chance to say goodbye.
In court documents, the 40-year-old Brann said Dalby hid the dog on the day he moved. He wants not only Guinness but also $10,000 in damages for emotional distress and $15,000 in punitive damages.
Brann’s San Francisco-based attorney, David Marble, said the judge will have a simple choice.
“This is just a property dispute; the property happens to be a dog,” Marble said. “It’s my client’s dog, and I’m very comfortable that we’re going to prove that.”
