Leslye Jourdan-Whittaker and her husband Ian, employed a firm of investigators to seize Bella, a two-year-old pet Labrador, after claiming the dog was rightfully theirs.
But the dog’s current owner, Oxford-educated stockbroker, Victoria Huxster, said the couple had given Bella to her as a gift after being unable to cope with her when she was a pup.
Yesterday she went to court to demand Bella is returned to her pending a hearing to decide ownership which is due to take place in July.
Bella was snatched as she was being walked in Battersea Park, south London on April 1 leaving Miss Huxster devastated.
The incident, involving pet detective Colin Butcher, was filmed for a forthcoming Channel 4 documentary.