Rockhampton’s Tim and Carolyn O’Connor pay $30k in damages to Gympie’s Delaquois German Shorthaired Pointers

A Queensland couple who tarnished a dog breeder’s reputation with Facebook posts have been forced to apologise and pay $30,000 in damages.

A dispute between a dog breeder and a Rockhampton couple has been settled out of court.

A Rockhampton couple who tarnished a dog breeder’s reputation by wrongly posting on Facebook that they acted unethically by breeding dogs with hip dysplasia, have apologised and paid $30,000 after agreeing they knew their dog’s hip problem was caused by a dog bite and not its breeding.

Insurance account manager Carolyn O’Connor wrote the unequivocal apology to Denise Newcombe, a registered breeder who trades as Delaquois German Shorthaired Pointers in Gympie, on behalf of herself and husband Tim on November 27, as part of an out-of-court settlement of a long-running defamation lawsuit.

Carolyn O'Connor.

Tim O'Connor.

The lawsuit, seeking $60,000 in damages, was filed by Mrs Newcombe in the District Court in Brisbane in October 2021.

The apology was posted on the German Shorthaired Pointers Australia Facebook group and the German Shorthaired Pointers Qld – events Facebook and states that the couple wish to apologise “for the reputational damage caused by posts we have previously made”.

Denise Newcombe, a registered breeder who trades as Delaquois German Shorthaired Pointers.

The posts related to the O’Connor’s dog Odin they purchased from Mrs Newcombe in August 2019.

Mrs O’Connor states the couple’s posts “implied or directly stated, that the hip issues suffered by our dog Odin were related to his breeding”.

“In November 2019, Odin was bitten by our other dog which resulted in Odin suffering from septic arthritis. The septic arthritis caused Odin’s hip dysplasia and we were informed of this at the time of diagnosis. Despite knowing the dog bite caused Odin’s hip dysplasia, we regrettably sought to blame you without justification,” Mrs O’Connor wrote in the published apology.

A photo taken from Delaquois German Shorthaired Pointers’ Facebook page.

“We hereby retract every post and comment made in relation to you and or Delaquois German Shorthaired Pointers.

“We sincerely apologise for the hurt and distress we have caused you and your family,” the apology states.

They also gave a written apology to Mrs Newcombe.

Both sides have also agreed to not contact or approach each other.

The statement of claim filed in court alleges the Facebook posts made between November 2020 and June 2021 contained seven defamatory imputations.

The German Shorthaired Pointers Australia group had 8000 members as at June 2021.

The claim states that Mrs O’Connor posted to the GSP Australia Facebook group in November 2020 that “unfortunately I fell into the trap of the breeder that talks the talk and is popular with many of you”.

Delaquois German Shorthaired Pointers is based in Gympie.

On May 4, 2021, Mrs O’Connor was alleged to have contacted Micheal Hilton, a buyer, via Facebook messenger and told him “I got a pup from this breeder and had to have a total hip replacement. She doesn’t test for hip dysplasia. Hope you have better luck.”

When Mr Hilton queried the name of the breeder, Mrs O’Connor replied with a photo of Odin: “This is my boy that I got from Delaquois that had to have a very expensive hip operation”.

The claim also alleges that around this same time, Mrs O’Connor contacted another prospective buyer, Whitney Quayle, and allegedly said Mrs Newcombe was responsible for the hip dysplasia of Odin.

The claim states that on June 2, 2021, Mrs O’Connor commented in the GSP Australia Facebook group that Odin “was from a litter of 11. One died at birth, two had parvovirus and mine had hip dysplasia. But she continues to breed. It’s a business for them”.

One of the apologies posted to Facebook by Carol O'Connor.

Mrs Newcombe submitted to court that the two pups with parvovirus were not from Odin’s litter.

She posted that Mrs Newcombe “doesn’t want to know about his problems or help me with the $26,000 vet bills. I have tried reporting her but the hoops you have to jump through are ridiculous so she will just keep going. These poor pups don’t deserve this sh*t”.

The posts stated that Mrs Newcombe “boasted to me that she breeds about 100 pups a year sometimes with three litters on the go”.

In their defence to the claims, filed in court prior to the settlement, the O’Connors claimed they “reasonably believed” the publications on Facebook to be fair and accurate and that the Facebook groups were private groups.

Speaking outside of court, the lawyer for Mrs Newcombe told The Courier-Mail that his client was “very pleased” the case was resolved and that her reputation was vindicated by the public apologies.

Mrs Newcombe waived her right to seek legal costs on the basis that the O’Connors don’t seek the legal costs of her first defamation claim, which was thrown out of court in January 2022 because it was filed too late.