A North Salem dog owner has sued an officer of the Nederlandse Kooikerhondje Club of America for allegedly stealing Prins Jac.
Dena Royale Mathias is demanding $45,000 from Lucinda Paganin, the vice president of the club from Homer, Illinois, in a complaint filed Aug. 3 in Westchester Supreme Court.
Mathias bought Prins Jac in 2017 from breeder Ann Knoop-Siderius, Paganin’s mother.
Kooikers, as the breed is sometimes called, are hunting dogs that originated in the Netherlands, where they were used to lure ducks into traps.
Mathias went to work for Paganin as an au pair last September, according to the complaint. She moved into an apartment with her Papillion dogs, two cats and Prins Jac, more formally known by his American Kennel Club registration as Amazing Prins Jacob van den Iserman Hoeve.
Paganin was listed as first owner on the AKC papers, the complaint states, and Mathias as second co-owner.
Mathias contends that the AKC papers are simply a pedigree registration and do not confer ownership rights.
After about 10 months on the job, Mathias accepted another position. On July 23 when she was away from her apartment, she claims, Paganin and others entered her apartment illegally and took Prins Jac.
Paganin refused to return the Kooiker, according to Mathias, purportedly arguing that she is listed on the registration papers as first owner; that Mathias is unable to provide adequate care because she was leaving the state; that she wants to breed the dog; and that she wants to show the dog at AKC events.
Paganin did not respond to an email asking for her side of the story.
Mathias accuses Paganin of conversion. She is demanding $45,000 for the purchase price of Prins Jac and for fees from sales of puppies.
Mathias is represented by North Salem attorney Nancy Ferguson-Guttenberg.
