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Katrina dogs saga goes on

A Louisiana couple claiming them win a ruling, not immediate custody.

By DEMORRIS A. LEE
Published October 31, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - A Louisiana couple fighting to regain custody of a St. Bernard and a shepherd mix they lost after Hurricane Katrina won a legal battle Monday.

But they still don't have the dogs, adopted separately by two Tampa Bay area women.

A state judge wasn't swayed by the toenail argument put forth by Pam Bondi, a Hillsborough prosecutor who adopted the St. Bernard. Bondi had argued that her dog still has all its toenails, but Steven and Dorreen Couture's St. Bernard had a toenail removed after its rescue.

After hearing from a veterinarian and others, however, Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Judge Henry J. Andringa said the evidence showed clearly and convincingly that the St. Bernard Bondi has is the one the Coutures lost.

Andringa added that it is reasonable to presume that the Coutures will win the case. Both dogs, the judge concluded, should be returned to the Coutures pending a jury trial sometime next year.

But Bondi and Rhonda Rineker, who has custody of the shepherd mix, were expected to post bonds to hang onto the dogs until the trial. Florida law allows a person to post a bond to retain disputed property.

The Coutures have said each dog is worth $200,000, but the judge indicated that the bonds will likely be closer to $1,500 for the St. Bernard and $750 for the shepherd mix.

"I'm happy the judge ruled in our favor," Dorreen Couture said Monday from Louisiana. "We are saddened that we still don't have Nila and Tank in our possession. We are saddened that they are not with their real family, the family that they should be with."

Dorreen Couture said they set the value high for the dogs, hoping Bondi and Rineker would not be able to afford the bonds.

"We just want our dogs back," she said.

Bondi and Rineker adopted the dogs from the Humane Society of Pinellas in October 2005. Both dogs were rescued from St. Bernard Parish, La., after Hurricane Katrina. Bondi adopted the St. Bernard, known as Master Tank, and named him Noah. Rineker adopted the shepherd mix and changed her name from Nila to Gracie.

The Coutures tracked the dogs to Pinellas County. After several failed attempts to get them back, they filed a lawsuit on June 29.

Bondi has argued that the St. Bernard she adopted was sick and improperly cared for. Rineker contends that the shepherd mix was abandoned and that she adopted the dog in good faith.

In a new twist, Bondi testified at a hearing on Friday that the dog she adopted was not the same dog the Coutures lost.

Bondi pointed to a September 2005 intake report from a makeshift shelter that indicated that a toenail on the dog's right paw had been removed. Bondi said the dog in her custody has all of its nails.

The Coutures contended that the nail had simply been clipped. A Largo veterinarian testified on the Coutures' behalf Monday on the difference between clipping and removing a dog's toenail.

The Coutures' attorney, Murray Silverstein, also submitted a statement from Dorreen Couture's brother, David Johnson. Johnson detailed a Sept. 6, 2006, Louisiana visit from Pam Bondi and an investigator. Johnson took the dogs to a shelter in 2005.

"Ms. Bondi identified herself, and said to me, 'I've been trying to find you for a year,' " Johnson said in the sworn affidavit. " 'I want to thank you for saving my dog's life.' Ms. Bondi then showed me six or more photographs of Master Tank."

Dorreen Couture said that visit confirms that Bondi knows that it's the same dog.

"It was just unbelievable that she would lie in court, being a state attorney," Dorreen Couture said. "But the judge saw through it and he ruled in our favor. Where are her values. I'm furious."

Bondi responded: "The people who attack my credibility are the same people who testified they left their dogs in a hurricane with unopened bottles of water, expecting them to chew through the thick plastic when they got thirsty and now claim the dogs are worth $400,000. That confirms what this case is about to them."

The Coutures have had court-ordered visitation with the dogs, but that arrangement broke down recently. While in town last weekend, the Coutures were not allowed to see the shepherd mix, though visitation had been arranged. Silverstein asked for a more structured schedule.

Andringa told the parties to work it out before he steps in.

Demorris A. Lee can be reached at (727) 445-4174 or dalee@sptimes.com.

[Last modified October 31, 2006, 11:07:55]