Betsy has her day in court

Greta Hunt (L), Grace King and Noah Hunt with Betsy. Photo / Doug Sherring

She's a fluffy, enthusiastic heap of good-humoured trouble - but Betsy the poodle's owners never thought she'd lead them all the way to court in a year-long legal battle.

Betsy was simply too much to handle for the proprietors of the kennel where she was sent for her holidays, wriggling free from the operator's arms and escaping into the rural bush for almost a week.

A year on, the operators of Hound Homestay have appealed to the Auckland District Court to avoid paying vet costs and a few hundred dollars in travel expenses and compensation to Betsy's owner.

The poodle is likely oblivious to the grief caused, but her owner Tim Hunt is determined to recoup the costs he incurred searching for his three children's much-loved pet.

The petcare company on Auckland's North Shore cares for pets in a home-style setting, keeping them in the house rather than in cages.

Betsy's owner Tim Hunt chose to use the service to look after the poodle, then aged 14 months, while his family holidayed in Omaha in January last year.

But an hour after the dog had been in their care, she wriggled out of operator Karl Ruffell's arms while he was carrying her to a fenced area and ran away.

Several unsuccessful attempts were made to find her over the following five days, with Hunt driving from their holiday home to Albany everyday.

When he finally recovered her, she was covered in matted hair and "prickles" and was visibly upset, he said.

Ruffell and co-operator Sarah Cowie refunded Hunt his accommodation fees but when Betsy became ill, thought to be a result of the thorns in her skin, they refused to pay the $234 vet bill.

The row escalated when Hunt took the company to the disputes tribunal. Ruffell and Cowie took a counter-claim against Hunt for the $140 accommodation fees and $30 for their legal action.

They argued they took reasonable care of Betsy and at several subsequent hearings claimed they could not be held responsible for her running away because she had behavioural problems.

They said she struggled out of Ruffell's arms and did not come when called after running off.

Said Hunt: "They were saying she had psychological problems but she's just a normal dog. She was still a puppy...I have three young children, I wouldn't have a problem dog around them."

Hunt argued that Betsy should have been kept on a lead until she had settled down.

Last June, tribunal referee Clayton Luke ordered Hound Homestay to reimburse Hunt the vet costs, $298 in travel costs between Omaha and Albany and $300 compensation for loss of enjoyment of his holiday.

The two lodged an appeal against the decision, which was heard in the Auckland District Court this week by Judge David Wilson, QC.

The judge reserved his decision.