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Motion is filed to dismiss dog case

By DEMORRIS A. LEE
Published August 4, 2006

One of the defendants in a high-profile case involving the ownership of two dogs rescued and adopted after Hurricane Katrina is asking a judge to dismiss the complaint.

Jeffrey Brown, the attorney for Rhonda Rineker of Dunedin, who adopted one of the two dogs in question, wrote in a motion filed on July 31 that an attempt to get the dog back cannot stand because the dog was no longer the property of the Katrina victims. The motion notes that a letter was mailed to the plaintiffs from the Humane Society, and that the original owners never responded. It also states that when Rineker adopted the dog on Oct. 28, 2005, the Humane Society conducted the transition lawfully according to the Pinellas County codes.

"It is too late for the plaintiffs to assert an ownership interest in the dog because title to 'Gracie' passed to the defendant when the plaintiffs failed to collect 'Gracie' from the Humane Society of Pinellas County within the required period of time, resulting in 'Gracie's' subsequent legal adoption by this defendant," Brown wrote.

The plaintiffs, Steven and Doreen Couture of Louisiana, are suing Rineker, Pam Bondi of Tampa and the Pinellas Humane Society in an effort to get back a St. Bernard and a shepherd-mix dog that they owned before the storm. The Coutures tracked the dogs to Pinellas County in January and say they have been fighting to get them back since that time. Rineker adopted the shepherd mix and renamed her Gracie; Bondi adopted the St. Bernard.

Brown said that because the dogs were surrendered during the storm, the Humane Society had the right to adopt them out after 10 days. In addition, he said that the Humane Society made an attempt to contact the Coutures when it sent a letter on Sept. 23, 2005, alerting them that they had the dog. According to county code, a first-class letter "shall constitute adequate notification of impoundment," Brown wrote in the motion to dismiss.

"We will make every effort to reunite you and your pet if that is possible," the letter said. "If conditions prevent that from happening then we promise you that we will do our best to find your dog a loving home."

Murray Silverstein, the lawyer representing the Coutures, said there is no evidence that the Coutures abandoned their dogs during the storm, nor is there evidence that they ever received the letter.

"The letter is unsigned, no proof it was ever sent , and my clients never received it," Silverstein said. "No legal or factual basis to conclude under the law of Florida or Louisiana that the Coutures' two dogs were ever abandoned."

The case is scheduled to be heard in November.

[Last modified August 4, 2006, 08:58:04]