Pontiac, Michigan Family Court Judge Cheryl Matthews is accustomed to making tough decisions in custody matters, but she was temporarily stumped when a divorced couple showed up in her courtroom on Wednesday morning with this question — who gets the dog sperm?
"I asked, ’Am I Being Punk’d?’" Matthews said on Wednesday afternoon. "I said, ’Is this a ’Candid Camera’ thing?’"
Karen Scully, who lives in Florida, and her ex-husband, Anthony Scully, are feuding in Oakland County Circuit Court in Pontiac, Mich., over who legitimately owns semen belonging to Cyrus, Regg and Romeo, all American Kennel Club — registered bullmastiffs — lovable, slobbery behemoths like the canine star of the movie "Turner & Hooch." Such dogs can sell for as much as $2,000 each.
The Scullys were hobby breeders in Oakland County until their divorce in 2002. When they split up, they also split up the six bullmastiffs they owned: He kept four of them and she took two with her to Florida. At issue is who gets to claim frozen sperm stored at a freezing centre. Both still raise bullmastiffs.
Anthony Scully, through his attorney, said the semen is his, and his ex-wife, in moving to Florida, gave up claim. Karen Scully, who appeared in court via teleconference, claimed she has ownership, since the dogs that provided the semen once belonged to her.
"I never had to make an argument quite like this," Anthony Scully’s attorney, Ryan Mae Steele, said. "I had a genealogy tree, listing who had puppies, who provided the semen. It was a lot to take in. " Matthews, an admitted dog lover, ruled it was not a divorce matter and told the couple they would have to fight it out in civil court. The case has been assigned to Oakland County Circuit Judge Leo Bowman. "My best wishes for Judge Bowman," Matthews said.
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