MacKenzie, a 3-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, whose care has been fought over in court, now has a life plan.
Guiding Eyes for the Blind Inc., a Yorktown Heights organization that breeds and trains guide dogs, and Kiira Chernik Wolfe, a volunteer foster handler, have agreed on who will be responsible for MacKenzie for the rest of her life.
MacKenzie ”“ sired by a French Labrador ”“ was acquired by Guiding Eyes to introduce genetic diversity to its colony and avoid inbreeding.
She is unique, according to the organization, and has been raised with the expectation that she will produce exceptional guide dogs.
Guiding Eyes assigned her to a volunteer puppy raiser to determine her fitness as a brood dog, and then assigned her to Wolfe for foster care between breeding periods.
MacKenzie was mated in 2019 and produced a litter of seven puppies in 2020.
Foster handlers are required to keep their dogs within 90 minutes of Guiding Eyes’ Canine Development Center in Patterson, Putnam County, for breeding and veterinary services. But Wolfe and MacKenzie moved from New York City to North Carolina.
Guiding Eyes sued Wolfe this past June in Westchester Supreme Court for violating the foster agreement and refusing to return MacKenzie.
Wolfe believed that Guiding Eyes was more interested in producing an “excessive number of litters,” than in protecting MacKenzie’s health, according to a letter her attorney wrote to the organization before the lawsuit was filed.
Wolfe offered to donate $100,000 to Guiding Eyes for MacKenzie’s release from the breeding program, according to a court document, and when the offer was rejected she sought to limit the number of litters.
The legal action was moved to federal court in White Plains, where the opponents discussed a deal under the Solomonic oversight of Magistrate Judge Andrew E. Krause and District Judge Kenneth M. Karas.
The settlement reaffirmed that Guiding Eyes owns MacKenzie, and it required Wolfe to return her to the Canine Development Center for an evaluation by Aug. 15.
Wolfe will continue to foster MacKenzie when she is not being used for breeding or whelping.
Guiding Eyes has sole rights to all puppies she produces.
After the third litter, MacKenzie will be retired as a brood dog and ownership will transfer to Wolfe.
“All life-saving measures shall be taken … to preserve MacKenzie’s health and life,” the agreement states.
Both sides must consent to any decision to withhold treatment or end MacKenzie’s life. If Guiding Eyes decides that MacKenzie should be euthanized, she will be transferred to Wolfe for the life-saving treatment of her choice.
If MacKenzie dies while in the care of Guiding Eyes, “her body shall be preserved and returned to Wolfe for necropsy and cremation … and Wolfe shall be entitled to retain MacKenzie’s ashes.”
