Freak Show Owner Gets Cash, But No Puppy

By Kevin Robinson in News on Aug 13, 2009 7:40PM

Coney Island freak show operator John Strong is entitled to $4,000 cash, but not a five-legged puppy, according to television judge Jeanine Pirro. Strong sued Calvin Owensby, an unemployed North Carolina electrician, whom Strong claimed agreed to sell him the puppy. Strong runs a freak show in New York that displays disfigured animals. He says that he sent Owensby $1,000, and would give him another $2,000 when he took delivery of the dog. "I didn't know it was a freak show," Owensby told Pirro. "He said it was an amazing animal show." Owensby says that he was told it was an amazing animals show, but that when word got out that he had sold the Chihuahua-Terrier mix to Strong he started to get threatening phone calls. The drama culminated when a woman Allyson Siegel of Charlotte, N.C. offered to buy the dog for $4,000. She had the fifth leg removed, and Owensby returned the money.

But Pirro, who's show is produced in Chicago by Telepictures Productions, ruled that Strong and Owensby had a contract, and that contract was broken. "We've got a contract, and the defendant broke it, pure and simple," Pirro said. Regardless, Strong says he intends to sue for possession of the dog after the show airs on September 8. "I certainly am not chasing four-legged dogs around the world," he said. "Because of the cuteness of the dog ... I would still like to have the dog."