A PET terrier is at the centre of a High Court battle between a surgeon and his ex-girlfriend, who both want the dog after their split.Dr Tan Kok Chye, 36, and Ms Connie Tan, 29, a business executive, are tussling for custody of the dog, Sasha.They first got the dog in August 2008, when they were living in the United States. Shortly after that, the pair broke up. Ms Tan returned to Singapore in November that year with Sasha.She remained on cordial terms with Dr Tan, however, and registered herself as Sasha’s owner with the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) and looked after it in her Sembawang flat.In March this year, however, Sasha, now two years old, disappeared from her home while she was at work. Her parents were at home, but the door of the flat was unlocked.In court papers, she claimed that just over a week later, she learnt that Sasha was at a Cavenagh Road apartment where Dr Tan lived with his mother, Dr Lee Seow Lang, a paediatrician.Since then, Dr Lee has looked after the terrier on her son’s behalf.Ms Tan claimed Dr Tan may have taken the dog from her home, and alleged that he had tried to do so once before, last October. She said she tried to get the dog back, but failed. Earlier this month, she filed a civil suit for its return.In documents filed with the court, Dr Tan claims he is Sasha’s joint owner and therefore entitled to it. He said he had registered himself as the owner of the dog two years ago, when the couple got Sasha from an animal shelter, the Greater Birmingham Humane Society, in the American state of Alabama, where they were living at the time.While Ms Tan claimed she had Dr Tan’s permission to bring Sasha back to Singapore, he said he allowed her to do so on the understanding that he would get the dog back.Ms Tan, meanwhile, claimed that she had been distraught after Sasha was taken from her, and even suffered bouts of depression as a result.All her attempts to resolve the dispute with Dr Tan’s family proved fruitless, she added.Her lawyer, Mr Ragbir Singh Bajwa, argued that his client had been looking after Sasha for a long time and claimed that Dr Tan had agreed to the arrangement. “No amount of damages can compensate for the grief and longing which has resulted from the forced separation,” he added.However, when contacted, Mr R. Narayanan, who represents Dr Lee, said both mother and son had offered to return the dog but Ms Tan came up with “certain conditions that were unacceptable”.The cost of the tussle has rocketed way beyond the small fee that the couple paid for the abandoned puppy. Typically, a terrier such as Sasha would cost about $1,500 here. The legal fees and costs in a High Court case, however, start from $8,000.In the latest development yesterday, High Court Justice Chan Seng Onn granted Ms Tan’s request for the dog to be handed over to her until the ownership dispute is resolved. It is understood the AVA licence under which Ms Tan registered Sasha stipulates that the dog must reside at her Sembawang flat.A pre-trial conference for the case will be held next week, with a full trial scheduled for later in the year.