Katrina canine dispute trial set
By DEMORRIS A. LEE
Published January 13, 2007
The high-profile dispute over the ownership of two dogs rescued after Hurricane Katrina and adopted by two Tampa Bay residents will go to trial the week of April 16, Pinellas County Judge Henry Andringa decided Friday.
Steven and Dorreen Couture of St. Bernard Parish, La., filed suit in Pinellas County in July, seeking to reclaim the dogs, which were adopted by Pam Bondi of Tampa and Rhonda Rineker of Dunedin. The suit also names the Humane Society of Pinellas, which adopted out the dogs.
The Coutures were displaced during Katrina, and the dogs - a St. Bernard and a shepherd mix -were taken to a temporary shelter. They said they were told the dogs would be returned to them.
The Coutures tracked the dogs to the bay area in early 2006. But by then, Bondi and Rineker had already adopted them. Bondi, a Hillsborough County prosecutor, adopted the St. Bernard, known as Master Tank, and renamed him Noah. Rineker adopted the shepherd mix, known as Nila, and renamed her Gracie.
Bondi has argued that the St. Bernard was sick and improperly cared for. Rineker has contended she adopted an abandoned dog in good faith.
Murray Silverstein, the Coutures' attorney, wanted a March trial date. But Bondi's attorney, Barry Cohen, will be in federal court then. And Rineker's attorney, Jeff Brown, will be in a federal trial in March and on vacation in early April.
Camille Godwin, Bondi's attorney Friday, said she has yet to get the Coutures' deposition and said that must be done before trial.
The Coutures, meanwhile, visited with the dogs last weekend, by Andringa's order allowing visitations every two to three weeks.
The Coutures and their two grandchildren drove from New Orleans and visited the shepherd mix for about an hour Saturday at John Chesnut Sr. Park in East Lake. The next day, they met for an hour with the St. Bernard in Tampa's Hyde Park.
Demorris A. Lee can be reached at 445-4174 dalee@sptimes.com.