STOCKHOLM, Sweden - A Swedish court has imposed a 20,000 kronor ($2,600) fine on a woman kennel owner who refused to sell a puppy to a lesbian.

The kennel owner, who was not identified, had initially been willing to sell the woman a puppy but changed her mind when she found out the woman was living with a lesbian partner, according to Sweden's discrimination ombudsman, a government watchdog who filed the lawsuit.

I suppose, the free enterprise folks would defend the business owner on the grounds that the kennel owner can refuse a sale to anyone he pleases. The argument would go, "I am in my right not to sell to someone who is obviously cruel to animals."