The missing puppy, the pet detective and the defamation claim – Sydney Morning Herald

The posts were viewed by hundreds of people and shared among groups with thousands of followers. In screenshots included in the court documents, one person commented: The more I read this the more Im thinking did teddy get out or was he just helped out of ur yard. Another said: These two are guilty AF and need to return poor Teddy. A third: I hope shes a better vet than she is a liar because Im not buying that story at all.

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One woman took issue with Ms Wheeler naming the women in the CCTV footage, calling it bullying.

The women may have been taking the dog to have its microchip scanned so they could return it to its owner, she said. She said she was concerned that people had rushed to judgment before the facts were determined because she knew how small town vitriol worked.

But she was quickly shot down by another member of the group: Political correctness gone mad. A victim of a crime has been told by the public she has now become the bully. REALLY??!!

Ms Curry and Ms Wheeler are now being sued over the comments posted to their Facebook pages.

Ms Marchant and Dr Munro claim that the Facebook publications and the comments carried various defamatory meanings, including that they were liars, dog thieves and criminals and were prepared to steal a puppy, re-chip the same and on-sell it to members of the public. Dr Munro has claimed she took 15 months off work due to the depression, anxiety and mental anguish caused by the publications.

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They are claiming $250,000 in damages.

In defence pleadings filed to the NSW District Court, Ms Wheeler and Ms Curry claim that to the extent those meanings were conveyed, they were substantially true, and that the comments were honest opinions based on facts.

Greg Loader, the meat inspector to whom Dr Munro brought Teddy, was a registered breeder of dogs crossed with poodles, and the pair had previously supplied each other with dogs for the purposes of breeding, the defence pleadings claim. A cavoodle is a Cavalier King Charles spaniel crossed with a poodle.

In all the circumstances, it may be inferred that the first plaintiffs purpose in taking Teddy to Mr Loaders house rather than to a vet or to a council pound was to have Teddys microchip changed or removed and replaced or alternatively to supply Teddy to Mr Loader for either of their breeding purposes, Ms Wheelers defence pleadings said.

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The High Court confirmed last year that news outlets were responsible as publishers for readers Facebook comments about youth detainee Dylan Voller because they had facilitated those comments by setting up public Facebook pages. It did not matter that they had deleted those comments once they became aware of them.

Michael Douglas, a senior lecturer at the University of Western Australia, said the ruling had implications for all social media users. The public seemingly isnt aware that you can get sued for something someone else says if you publish it, in the same way that a newspaper can get sued, Mr Douglas said.

Teddy has never been found.

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The missing puppy, the pet detective and the defamation claim - Sydney Morning Herald