Runaway Dog Last Seen Out-Acting Paul Walker
A Tennessee couple is convinced that Shadow, one of the furry stars of Disney dogsledding movie Eight Below, is actually Kolby, an Alaskan Malamute who went missing from their yard in 2004. It sounds like a crackpot accusation, until you consider that Shadow was found at a nearby Knoxville animal shelter by Sled Dog Rescue of Tennessee, who groomed him for the audition that led to his big break. (The entire story is recounted at the Rescue's website.) Kolby's owners are suing everyone they feel is responsible, including Disney, for conspiring to spirit away their beloved pooch and throw him onto a starmaking conveyor belt that turns good doggies into Hollywood assholes:
"The plaintiffs requested of Young-Williams Animal Shelter that if Kolby came to be at their shelter, that the Plaintiffs be contacted so they could retrieve Kolby. Young-Williams agreed to do so," the lawsuit reads.
"The animal shelter called [the Sled Dog Rescue] instead of us when our dog come in here. We don't know why that happened," said [plaintiff Melinda] Robinson. [...]
In a statement late Monday to 6 News, a Disney spokesperson said, "The Walt Disney Studios does not own the Alaskan Malamute dogs that appear in 'Eight Below,' and never did. Additionally, there is no indication known to us that any such dog is or was owned by Melinda Robinson and William Robinson."
A rep for Shadow, meanwhile, has released a short statement, explaining that "any pre-shelter rescue memory is exceedingly hazy for our client," which translates roughly as, "Even if his name really was Kolby, and the Robinsons actually were his original owners, he'll think he'll take his current life of hanging by a pool and banging hot poodles on a chaise lounge covered in Bac'n Strips over being leashed up in some yard back in Tennessee, but appreciates their concern all the same."
