Two Pennsylvania dog breeders are suing the prestigious Manhattan-based American Kennel Club claiming they were ensnared in a real life version of the hit comedy “Best in Show” gone bad.
Retired Air Force sergeant Ralph Ullum, 70, and his girlfriend Cheryl French, 61, of Topaz Siberians Kennel say an AKC-sanctioned canine committee falsely accused them of drugging a rival husky at a competition in Illinois in 2010.
The veteran breeders were acquitted a year later after a criminal trial over the alleged poisoning of a pup named Pixie at the Starved Rock Kennel Club Show in Wheaton, Ill.
But they claim the damage had already been done as the AKC had slapped a $1,000 fine on the breeders and broadcasted their five-year suspension to members across the US and Europe.
They were “ostracized, ridiculed, excluded and avoided by potential customers, breeders, buyers, sellers and other business clientele,” the Manhattan Supreme Court suit charges.
The couple’s attorney, Kevin O’Dell, told the Post the AKC has adamantly refused to clear his clients’ name despite the acquittal.
“He was guilty until proven innocent,” O’Dell said. “And he’s still seen as doing something wrong because the AKC won’t stop his suspension.”
O’Dell said Pixie’s handler Jessica Plourde and his clients were longtime competitors and she was jealous that their dog, named 501 Blues, had taken the blue ribbon for Best of Breed at the Illinois show.
Ullum and French, who have been in business for over 30 years, claim they were unfairly treated by the kennel club’s President Dennis Sprung because he has a personal relationship with their accuser Plourde.
The New York resident had claimed she saw crushed up pills next to her pup. She did not return messages.
The breeders want unspecified damages.
A spokeswoman for the American Kennel Club had not seen the suit and declined to comment.