UAE: Woman loses Dh100,000 lawsuit against ex-fiance who refused to return her dog

Abu Dhabi - The court also asked the Arab woman to pay for the man's legal expenses

An Abu Dhabi woman has lost a Dh100,000 lawsuit against her ex-fiancé, in which she sought compensation for moral damages she had suffered when the man refused to return her dog.

The Arab woman told the Abu Dhabi court of the first instance that the man had proposed to her, but later cancelled their engagement due to some misunderstandings.

She claimed she had adopted the dog, “La Prada”, from an animal care centre. She later gave the dog to her then-fiancé to keep with him when they were still in a relationship.

She said she thought it would be a family pet as the man also loved animals.

According to the lawsuit, when their courtship ended, the man kept the dog and refused to return it to the woman - with an intention to harass her.

The woman said she asked the man several times to return her dog, but he refused.

She had attached details of the phone conversation between them demanding her pet, and a copy of a certificate issued by the animal care centre.

She said she loved her dog and the man’s refusal to return it has caused her psychological damage.

She asked the court to oblige the man to return it to her and also compensate her with Dh100,000 for the moral damages.

The man had denied the woman’s claims, stressing that she had handed over the dog and also signed ownership transfer documents.

After hearing from both parties, the court decided to dismiss the woman’s lawsuit and asked her to pay for the man’s legal expenses.

The court said in its ruling that, according to the Law of Evidence in Civil and Commercial Transactions, “the plaintiff must prove her right and the defendant has to deny it,” noting that what is proven from the document submitted by the defendant is that the plaintiff signed a statement indicating the transfer of the dog’s ownership from her name to his name.

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The defendant then became the owner of the dog (the subject of the dispute) and the lawsuit was filed without a document that merits rejection, said court.

The judge said the complainant’s insistence on having a certificate from the animal care centre stating that the dog is registered in her name does not change anything.

• Abu Dhabi