By Laura Pullman
A 10lb, fluffy Pomeranian dog called Sammy is at the centre of a bitter $500,000 lawsuit.
One New Yorker who used his photogenic dog to create a blog dubbed ‘Sammy and the City’ is now dragging his estranged girlfriend to court claiming she stole the lucrative website.
Scott Smith, 43, his ex-girlfriend Anna Camara, 44, and Smith’s sister, Jessica, launched the site last year, posting photos and videos of Sammy at different landmarks in New York.
Sammy and the City: Scott Smith, seen right with his dog Sammy, has landed his ex-girlfriend with a $500,000 lawsuit claiming she stole their blog about the Pomeranian pooch
Canine celebrity: Sammy and the City attracted 40,000 visitors a month after it launched last year
The site soon became an online sensation, gaining an impressive following of 40,000 visitors a month keen to check in on Sammy’s exploits.
The 7-year-old canine attracted more than 51,000 followers on Instagram, the photo-sharing app, as well as more than 10,000 fans on Facebook and Twitter.
After their relationship broke down Smith and Camara continued to work on the expanding business together with Camara in charge of photography, reported the New York Post.
However, in April, Camara shut her ex-boyfriend out of the project, listing herself as the sole owner in an attempt to trademark the business name, Smith claims in court papers.
Fighting for justice: Sammy's owner claims that his ex-girlfriend shut him out of the expanding website, which featured photos and videos of the 10-pound pooch
Dog-fight: Smith says the dog and project are his but 'not one bit of it is in my name'
She allegedly changed online passwords and IDs to lock Smith out of the site so he could not add new content.
Last week Smith landed Camara with a $500,000 lawsuit for scuppering their website.
‘This is my dog, this is my project, and not one bit of it is in my name,’ Smith told the New York Post.
In the lawsuit filed at the Manhattan Supreme Court, Smith alleges that Camara stole his iPad, which he used to upload pictures of Sammy, and returned it with changed passwords.
Fall out: Anna Camara, left, denies the allegations that she stole 'Sammy and the City' by changing online passwords and IDs to prevent Smith from uploading any new content
New Yorker: The successful site showed the adorable 7-year-old pooch taking in the sites of New York, Smith is trying to re-launch both their careers with a new site - Sammy and the World
This particular incident led to a scuffle where Smith tried to snatch Camara’s phone. Smith ended up in jail on a petty larceny charge, the Post reported.
Smith now hopes to re-launch his pooch’s career with a new website called EverybodyLovesSammy and keeps fans happy with a Facebook page, Sammy and the World.
He conceded that his ex-girlfriend is a 'brilliant' photographer but said she 'lacks business ethics'.
Camara denied the allegations to the New York Post.
source:dailymail
Monday, July 2, 2012
The couple at war over the world's cutest dog: Owner sues ex-girlfriend for $500,000 after she 'stole his blog about pup Sammy'
9:32 PM
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