Appeal from a judgment of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Richmond County (Orlando Marrazzo, Jr., J.), entered April 9, 2012. The judgment, after a nonjury trial, awarded plaintiff possession of a dog.

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed, without costs.

In this action to recover possession of a dog, plaintiff alleged that she is the owner of the dog and that defendant, her ex-boyfriend, was only to have visitation with the dog for a week. Defendant failed to return the dog at the conclusion of the week, despite repeated demands. After a nonjury trial, the Civil Court ruled that plaintiff is the owner of the dog and directed defendant to return the dog to plaintiff. Defendant appeals from the judgment entered pursuant to the court's decision. "Plaintiff has the burden of proving [her] case by a fair preponderance of the credible evidence" (Rinaldi & Sons v Wells Fargo Alarm Serv., 39 NY2d 191, 196 [1976]). "The credibility of the witnesses, the reconciliation of conflicting statements, a determination of which should be accepted and which rejected, the truthfulness and accuracy of the testimony, whether contradictory or not, are issues for the trier of the fact . . . The memory, motive, mental capacity, accuracy of observation and statement, truthfulness and other tests of the reliability of witnesses can be passed upon with greater safety by a trial judge who sees and hears the witnesses" (Healy v Williams, 30 AD3d 466, 468 [2006] [citation and internal quotation marks omitted]). A determination of a trial court after a nonjury trial should not be disturbed on appeal unless it is not supported by legally sufficient evidence or could not have been reached by any fair interpretation of the evidence (see Halpern v Goldstein & Halpern, C.P.A., 18 AD3d 432 [2005]).

Here, plaintiff's submission of veterinarian's bills all addressed to plaintiff and listing plaintiff as client; an American Kennel Club registration certificate listing plaintiff as the owner of the dog; and a microchip proof of ownership card listing plaintiff's name; as well as plaintiff's testimony, credited by the Civil Court, that she, rather than defendant, was the owner, constituted sufficient evidence to support the finding that plaintiff proved a superior possessory right to the dog (see McGuirk v Mugs Pub, 250 AD2d 824 [1998] Richard's Home Ctr. & Lbr. v Kraft, 199 AD2d 254 [1993] Claridge Gardens v Menotti, 160 AD2d 544 [1990]).

Defendant's remaining contentions are either not properly before this court or lack merit. Accordingly, the judgment is affirmed.

Aliotta, J.P., Pesce and Solomon, JJ., concur.
Decision Date: January 10, 2014