EXCLUSIVE: Gerard Butler’s Dog Fight
Aug. 26 2009, Published 4:56 a.m. ET
A retired banker has branded 300 hunk Gerard Butler a ‘thug and a liar’ after his greyhound Mayfly got involved in a spat with the star’s pug Lolita.
The altercation happened near the set of Butler and Jennifer Aniston’s new movie The Bounty currently filming in New York.
The hunky Scottish actor - who has been romantically linked with his co-star – claims he got in a verbal argument with Fred Varecka and his wife Maria after their greyhound bit his little pug.
But animal-lover Varecka, 67, who volunteers for and rescued his dog from the Grateful Greyhounds charity, has blasted Butler for not having his pug on a leash and for unexpectedly striking his dog.
He exclusively told RadarOnline.com Online.com: “I want people to know that Gerard Butler is a liar and a jerk.
“We don’t want any money from him a simple apology would have done but that won’t happen because he won’t tell the truth about what actually happened.”
Varecka and his wife were taking their two greyhounds three-year-old Mayfly and six-year-old Mikey for a walk on Monday afternoon close to Broadway near 14th Street.
They approached a school ball-park where some trailers from the film had parked-up when the altercation ensued.
Varecka explained: “Both our dogs were on a leash and when we passed the first trailer a member from the crew came-out and started chatting and she told us they were shooting a film with Jennifer Aniston.
“Then this pug approached us from the right and we pulled our dogs back and we had full control of them.
“Mayfly got a little closer but he and the pug never came into actual contact and the next thing we knew was Gerard Butler came-over shouting: ‘That dog should be put down’
“I replied: ‘Put your dog on a leash – this dog was about to be put down once we just saved it.’
“He then came back surrounded by his entourage and smacks Mayfly on the head without any warning and my dog crashed into a fence before ‘yelping’ in pain.
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“I asked him: ‘What did you hit my dog for?’
“But he just kept ranting and raving that our dog should be put down it was unbelievable because the dogs never came into contact at any time.”
The Vareckas then walked their dogs away from the scene and filed a complaint with their local police station that the Scottish star had struck their dog.
The actor’s manager Alan Siegel claims that the star’s pug was on a leash and that Mayfly bit her twice and that the actor then had to take his dog to an Upper East side vet for treatment to her injuries.
An NYPD spokesperson confirmed to RadarOnline.com Online.com that a complaint for ‘harassment’ had been made against a ‘Gerrod Butler’.
The complaint states that Butler’s dog charged after the greyhound and the owner stated that his dog should be on a leash and the perbutrator (Butler) then cursed them out.
The NYPD have now closed the case but the animal loving Vereckas are still very upset with the A-list star.
Varecka added: “The District Attorney’s Office have contacted us and their will be no further action.
“This could have been handled differently but Gerard Butler chose to lie – I’m half Scottish and we liked is performance in Phantom Of The Opera but we are not fans of his any longer.
“My wife is still very upset about the whole thing and we intend to take Mayfly to the vet’s to make sure that he is totally okay.
“We are responsible animal lovers and we didn’t deserve to be treated this way by Gerard Butler.”
A rep for Butler tells RadarOnline.com Online.com : “A larger greyhound repeatedly attacked Gerard’s small pug, so he separated them to protect both dogs.”