Steel

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

1. Allegations of the Complaint Eve Steele brought this lawsuit against the Wornalls, Tere Cruz, and Tina Cruz in December 2012.3 In pertinent part, the complaint alleged as follows. Steele breeds Australian Terriers, a breed of purebred dogs that the American Kennel Club recognizes. Steele has developed lines of award-winning and championship Australian Terriers recognized throughout the world as superior and valuable. She cobreeds and co-owns various Australian Terriers with Marjo Ahola, a resident of Finland. The Wornalls are father and daughter and have a business that provides “professional dog handling, training, grooming, breeding and caring for and transporting dogs owned by persons other than themselves.” For the nine years prior to the filing of the complaint, the Wornalls acted as professional dog handlers for Steele’s dogs. The Cruzes are sisters. In or about 2006, Steele permitted Tere to conditionally possess one of Steele’s dogs (Queenie) as a pet. In exchange for the enjoyment of housing the dog in her home, Tere agreed to take good and continuing care of the dog

Further undesignated statutory references are to the Code of Civil…