Luna the last time we saw her and after we got her back.
Ownership transferred without permission.
Two months in transport crates in a van.
Two more months abandoned at a boarding facility.
One surgery. One ear cut in half. Ear infection.
Muscle atrophy. Severe matting. Criminal loneliness.
This is what handler Irene Panighi gave to our dogs – Luna and Sidney.
Sidney before he was handed over to Irene Panighi and upon pickup.
Hello! We are Stella Raycheva and Ana Janevska,
Owners of the Poodles Luna and Sidney, long-time breed enthusiasts and dedicated animal lovers. (Scroll down for more about us.)
This page tells the story of the worst nightmare of our lives – our ordeal with Italian handler named Irene Panighi. The events took place between April and July 2026.
Over the course of four months, Irene Panighi deceived us, hid the truth about our dogs and kept them in filth, confinement and lacking the basic care she was paid to do.
A case of fraud, animal cruelty and neglect
Facts only:
■ Irene Panighi transferred the registered ownership of our dogs to herself in Italy without our permission or informing us.
■ Our dogs were confined in small crates for two months, living in their own filth, crated in her van day and night.
■ Later she abandoned them in a boarding facility for another two months severing contact with us and the facility.
■ She hid their whereabouts from us and prevented us from taking care and legal action.
■ Luna and Sidney came to Irene in top condition. 4 months later they are unrecognizable shadows of themselves.
■ Both dogs have muscle atrophy and ear infections, Luna has undergone a surgery at the boarding kennel and her ear has been cut by 1/3.
We are still waiting for microbiology results and then we will also post the official medical statements.
We are taking legal action and will file complaints with the Italian authorities and every relevant governing body within the FCI system.
Everything published on this page is supported by documents, chat messages, photographs, videos, veterinary records, bank transfers and witnesses.
Please scroll down to bottom of page for the unedited videos.
On top of our personal experience so many people have contacted us in the past weeks sharing shocking stories…
The truth has to come out and we need your help to stop this madness. Irene Panighi should never be allowed to work with animals again and we will sue her for animal cruelty and neglect.
In the meantime, please, help us spread the word in the FCI dog world as other dogs are still at risk!
What happened:
Seven dogs stopped at the border
Luna and Sidney were two of seven dogs travelling with Irene Panighi to Italy for dog shows at the beginning of April 2026.
When the group was stopped at the Croatian–Italian border and for reasons that remain unclear, the authorities required rabies antibody (titre) testing. Although the dogs were of different ages and had documented rabies vaccinations, five received exactly the same result: zero antibodies. This strongly suggested a laboratory error rather than five identical immune responses.
Nevertheless, all dogs were revaccinated, tested again and placed under a mandatory three-month quarantine.
We immediately tried to help
As soon as we learned about the quarantine, we offered every possible form of help. We were ready to travel to Italy ourselves, stay with the dogs during quarantine or send friends if needed.
We even told her she can shave the dogs down, so they can be comfortable in the summer time of quarantine. She assured us this is not necessary, as dogs were with her in perfect condition.
She told us many times that she is living with the dogs, they are well taken care of, walked daily and groomed weekly.
She told us she had hired a lawyer to assist her. She told us the dogs wellbeing is the most important to her. She told us we should trust her reputation as a breeder and know they are safe.
Our only concern was the safety and wellbeing of Luna and Sidney.
Week after week she assured us us solution is near and then… disappeared.
€5,400 to neglect and abandon Luna and Sidney
In March and April 2026 we transferred a total of €5,400 to Irene Panighi for the care of Luna and Sidney.
We were ready to do anything that was asked to provide normal conditions for our animals, and she knew that.
Here are the bank transfers we made to her account upon her request in that period (in *.PDF as issued by the bank):
1000 04
2000 03
Prevod za 1 000.00 EUR na 19.03.2026g. kam Irene Giorgia Panighi
Prevod za 400.00 EUR na 24.03.2026g. kam Irene Giorgia Panighi
She repeatedly told us the dogs were living with her, that she played with them, walked them twice a day and bathed them every week.
In May we began to worry, as no recent photographs or videos were ever provided.
The last video we saw of Luna was from March, in another persons house, and the last video we saw of Sidney was from the boarding facility in early April.
Irene Panighi was giving us conflicted and inconsistent information, disappearing from communication. The stress became overwhelming.
Where are Luna and Sidney? Are they even alive?
Unable to get any information from Irene Panighi, we had to employ friends of friends living in Italy on a quest to find them.
They travelled to the address Irene Panighi had given the authorities for quarantine. She did not live there.
Luna and Sidney were finally located at a boarding kennel, where the staff had kept them, despite having no connection to Irene Panighi or us.
But! – our emissary could not even see them in the boarding kennel until Irene Panighi would allow it. And she was nowhere near.
Difficult appointments were made three times, our representative travelled to the boarding kennel and waited there, but Irene Panighi would neither appear, nor pick up her phone.
Finally, after a week of misleading him and us, on 01.06.2026 she arrived at the boarding facility to show us the dogs on live video.
This was her only visit to our dogs and the boarding staff can testify.
On this day Irene Panighi also made this photo of wet Luna with her child in the boarding kennel grooming room:
Irene Panighi’s current “story” is that she did not have access to the dogs.
This was never the case and this photo is proof she had access and was in fact there during the time.
We later learned from the boarding staff and other witnesses, that Luna and Sidney had spent approximately two months confined to transport crates in a van whilst still in Irene’s “care”.
After that, they spent approximately another two months alone at the boarding kennels, still confined to kennels, while Irene Panighi had left them there and not to be found.
The same was true for all the dogs that were quarantined. She subjected all, but a young Weimaraner of her own breeding, to the same appalling conditions.
Registered ownership transferred without our permission
At this point we contacted lawyer Galia Andreeva at Lexens Milano to assist us with retrieving the dogs through the authorities.
Only then did she discover that ownership of our dogs had been registered into Irene Panighi’s name in Italy without our knowledge or permission.
Our hands were tied to do anything without her and we could not reach Panighi, her number was permanently answering “incorrect” – she had blocked us.
Meanwhile she continued to go to shows unbothered, strangely enough – with a dog that was on the same transport.
Our lawyer instructed us to stop any contact with Irene Panighi and leave the matter to their care.
They had an extremely hard time finding her and it had to be through acquaintances that they finally reached her. She promised full cooperation.
Irene Panighi didn’t assist with information, did not send documents, did not disclose the details the situation, remaining vague and evasive throughout all efforts to expedite the dogs’ release from quarantine and provide them with adequate care.
She later claimed the reason was her phone had no memory, her mail was hacked etc…
The quarantine officially ended on 20 July, but Irene Panighi postponed the handover for 24 July, because she was at shows in Bosnia.
When we finally saw our dogs, they were in the shocking condition shown in the photographs and videos on this page.
A cruel scam – blackmailing us to return the dogs’ passports
Whilst we were still in communication Irene Panighi asked for €56 per day for the accommodation of our two dogs.
When we arrived at the boarding kennel, we learned that the actual daily price was €40 per day for both dogs together, and that those fees had not been paid by Irene.
Irene Panighi’s partner – Macedonian FCI judge and breeder Mihajlo Kostovski, refused to hand over the passports until we paid the boarding fees again.
We had already paid Irene, yet we were forced to also pay the boarding kennel directly because the money had never reached them.
Of course, we did, we just wanted to bring our dogs home. Below is the receipt proving that we paid the boarding facility ourselves in order to recover our dogs:
It is important for us to stress this: we don’t care about money when our dogs’ lives are at stake.
We will file a lawsuit against Irene Panighi for Animal Cruelty, not for money fraud which this most likely is.
Instead, we will use the financial evidence to report Irene Panighi to the Italian financial authorities and they can deal with the material part of it.
The truth: Surgery. Atrophy. Missing ear.
About a week after Irene Panighi’s only visit to the dogs, the boarding staff discovered Luna had a severe infection on her back paw.
A tight elastic band around three of her fingers had made it’s way through the flesh.
We cannot say how the band got there, though Luna was only touched by Irene and her child when she came to wash her for the meeting.
What we do know for certain is that this band caused a severe infection and had to be surgically removed under anesthesia.
The surgery was performed by a Dr.Achille Secchi in Castelcovati (Brescia) who has confirmed her condition and has agreed to testify before the court.
The surgery and follow up was organized entirely by the boarding staff and Irene was not aware of it until her arrival on the 24-th of July almost two months later.
When the doctor talked to us Irene laughed, saying “you didn’t make a video and you can never prove this”.
And this is not all Luna had to go trough. Her right ear was banded and left to dry off.
You can see the ears of Luna upon return. 1/3 on the left side is missing, apparently necrotized with and elastic band:
Luna’s right damaged and left normal ear after the shave. Full video is below.
Luna and Sidney were both athletic young dogs in top form when we gave them to Irene Panighi. They would spend hours hiking, swimming and running with our families.
At the first days after we got her back Luna could hardly stand on her feet. Sidney couldn’t jump on the couch.
They suffered severe loss of muscle tissue due to prolonged lack of movement. Their feet are flattened, their backs are roached, their movements are unrecognizable.
We don’t know how to explain this to our children who are devastated and stunned.
Mihajlo Kostovski and his involvement
It is important to point out that throughout the day of the handover (24.07.26) Irene Panighi was accompanied by her partner and father of her child, FCI judge from Macedonia – Mihajlo Kostovski.
Only weeks before the dogs were finally released to us, at the FCI World Dog Show 2026 in Bologna, Mr.Kostovski physically assaulted Irene Panighi in public, requiring police intervention.
We know she has led people to believe she is his victim and in need of help. But the two were side by side at the handover.
We believe she brought him to intimidate us. And it is a fact we aren’t used to such vulgarity, but we did our best to conduct ourselves in a civilized manner.
The couple were defending each others actions, acted arrogant and preposterous, and showed no remorse when confronted with the facts.
You can hear both Mr.Kostovski and Mrs.Panighi’s outrageous behavior at the first minutes of their arrival at the boarding kennels in the recording we made at the bottom of the page.
Witnessed by us: A dog deliberately left behind
Our lawyers had understood the release of all dogs was secured, but when we arrived and finally read the release document issued to the boarding facility (posted above), we found out one of the dogs must remain in quarantine till September.
Sake, a lovely Shiba Inu owned by Marika Fredriksson.
While Stella Raycheva was at the veterinary clinic to complete the paperwork transferring Luna and Sidney out of Irene Panighi’s name, she inquired about that dog, asking if Panighi will transfer Sake’s ownership back as well.
Irene Panighi told Stella directly that she will not take any measure to help Sake and that “the dog could stay there until September, not my problem.”
She said that the owner and the boarding staff should deal with the situation themselves because she “did not care”. She also said personal things about the owner that are not worth repeating, but it was made clear the dog is not being taken care of due to personal reasons.
We have contacted the owner of Sake to inform her of the situation.
Mrs. Fredriksson can testify of the deceit and carelessness she and her dog got from Irene Panighi.
Witnessed by us: Dogs left in the sun for hours
On the day of the handover we spent many hours together with Mrs. Panighi and her partner Mr. Mihajlo Kostovski following our lawyers instructions.
We had to resolve the quarantine issue she had abandoned at ATS Cremona and remove her as owner of the dogs at the veterinarian who signed them over to her in the first place.
Panighi and Kostovski had travelled many hours from Bosnia Hertzegovina to Cremona, Italy to meet us at 11 o’clock. In their van they had dogs in crates.
After meeting in Cremona we travelled together to Annicco, later to Rivolta d’Adda, and we waited there whilst the couple travelled back to Annicco to put the Rabies stamps in the passports as agreed with the lawyers. We left them arguing at the breeding facility a little before 17 o’clock.
Throughout that whole time (approximately 6 hours with us, unknown how long before we met), the dogs travelling with Irene Panighi and Mr. Kostovski remained inside the van, inside transport crates, under the sun in the Italian summer heat.
According to our own observations, the dogs were not taken out, were not given water and were not checked during those hours.
Their condition is shown in the video we took:
We immediately contacted the owner of one of the dogs inside we recognized – a black standard poodle owned by Sevdalina Janeva, and later brought that dog back with us to Bulgaria. He was extremely overheated, and it took him hours to cool down in our air-conditioned car.
After days of denial and efforts to cover up the truth, Irene Panighi finally confessed to Mrs.Janeva that he too had lived in their van for extended periods of time, despite her claims he was always in the house.
The following video is not made by us, but it is the same van, belonging to the same people at an Italian dog show, where you can see other overheated dogs stuffed in crates where they cant stand up and in the sun all day:
The owner of one of the dogs in the video had also used Irene Panighi as a handler. He was alerted by an acquaintance at the show that his dog was left to bake in the hot van without a walk or water. This video was made when he recovered his dog and canceled Panighi’s services.
Unfortunately, we now have the testimonies of many people who have seen the couple leave dogs in the van day and night for long periods of time and often in the scorching sun.
Irene Panighi’s and Mihajlo Kostovski’s conduct is cruel, dishonest and entirely incompatible with the standards expected within the FCI community.
Help us protect other dogs
Help us spread the word. We now know so many things that would have stopped us from giving our dogs to her.
The truth has to come out.
If you want to share information about Irene Panighi, Mihajlo Kostovski and their mistreatment of animals, contact us.
We will do all in our power to see that this crime against Luna and Sidney doesn’t go unpunished.
Who we are?
Ana is a Master Groomer at AJ Grooming, a leading Bulgarian salon. She teaches grooming officially through the Bulgarian Grooming Academy.
Stella is a breeder of FCI poodles under the prefix Murfin, together with Plamen Bachovski for over 20 years.
She is also in the governing board of Poodle Club – Bulgaria and is a founder and long-term coordinator of Animal Rescue Sofia.
We both have the highest available in the EU diplomas in cynology: breeding, training and grooming, also both are certified veterinary technicians.
Luna and Sidney are cherished members of our family.
Unedited Videos
This is all of our written communication with handler Irene Panighi. We post it here without any edition, the way it will be presented in court.
The chat messages published here begin in January, you can scroll on to March where the events begin to unfold.
These are the unedited videos we made the day of pickup 24.07.2026 in the boarding kennels:
First is an audio recording of the arrival of Irene Panighi and Mihajlo Kostovski at the boarding kennels.
It is difficult to understand, but for those that would take the effort there are subtitles from Youtube, not entirely correct.
The argument is between the lady from the boarding kennel on one side and Panighi and Kostovski on the other.
Initially Panighi is trying to hide the fact she had not been in contact with the boarding kennel for two months.
Afterward, she claims she was not allowed to enter the facility when in fact she had disappeared on them without payment.
The photo of Irene’s child and Luna in the facility posted above proves she had access to the dogs.
Video from the moment we finally saw our dogs at the boarding kennel:
Video showing Luna’s condition on pick up in the boarding kennel. Panighi claims this is the result of “20 days only”:
The following are the videos we made on the night of 25.07.2026 when we arrived in our salon in Bulgaria:
Video showing the muscular condition of Sidney and Luna under the severe matting:
Video showing the missing part on the right ear of Luna: