A Nova Scotia lawyer is taking on the case of a woman who lost her dog while she was hospitalized for mental illness.
After Beth Wallace was hospitalized for post-traumatic stress disorder and released in July, she discovered her dog, Casa, had been adopted without her consent.
“I was absolutely devastated,” said Wallace. “I would wake up in the morning completely crippled with dread.”
Before being hospitalized, Wallace had been staying at a shelter. While receiving treatment, a volunteer found Casa a new, permanent home.
Lawyer Stan MacDonald has taken on the case and is doing the work for free. He says the reason is simple.
“I believe that Beth should have her dog back,” said MacDonald.
MacDonald says he has served the new owner, Janet Landry, with a notice to appear in small claims court.
“I've taken a very measured approach throughout this whole thing because it's just so devastating, but I am a little bit, you know, excited,” said Wallace.
Landry has also hired a lawyer. Tracy Smith of Boyne Clarke says she and her client intend to defend all of the allegations, that not all of the circumstances surrounding the adoption are set out in the claim, and that the dog is now in a loving home.
“I don't have a lot of compassion for the fact that she's had the dog for nine months because she's known for a very long time that a mistake was made,” said Wallace.
Wallace and her lawyer say they'll drop the case if the new owner will just give the dog back.
“What I hope is that I'll be contacted by the person who has Casa or perhaps someone on her behalf, and perhaps we can all come to an agreement,” said MacDonald.
“If she's not going to do that, then I just hope, God willing that, you know, the law is on our side and the court forces her to give me back the dog,” said Wallce.
The new owner has two weeks to file a defence.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kayla Hounsell.
