A woman who was out $3,000 after a rare-breed puppy she paid for was stolen last summer after the breeder died suddenly has had her lawsuit thrown out by the B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal.
Danielle Marie Parlee sued Kearston Michelle Burton-Weatherhead seeking $3,000 she paid to Burton-Weatherhead’s sister, Dainya Watson.
Parlee paid Watson $3,000 in a series of payments between February and June of last year. She picked out an Alapaha blue-blood bulldog puppy named Denali, which had recently been born to one of Watson’s dogs.
Watson, 33, died in her Brocklehurst home on June 28. Burton-Weatherhead told Castanet Kamloops last summer that the dogs were stolen within hours of Watson’s death.
When Watson died, Burton-Weatherhead took in one of her dogs, Lily, who gave birth to another litter of Alapaha blue-blood bulldog puppies on July 1.
Parlee said her agreement with Watson stipulated that she could have a puppy from Lily’s litter if anything went sideways with Denali.
Because of that, she said, Burton-Weatherhead owed her $3,000. But adjudicator Nav Shukla was not convinced.
“I find this alleged contractual term is not proven based on the evidence before me,” Shukla wrote in the decision, rendered on Monday.
“There is no evidence of any communications between Mrs. Parlee and [Watson] stating that Mrs. Parlee’s $3,000 payment was transferrable between litters, especially after Mrs. Parlee paid $500 on May 14 to reserve a specific puppy.”
Shukla said Parlee could potentially seek recourse by suing Watson’s estate.
