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Case of 2 dogs will go to trial

A motion that would have let two women keep them is denied.

By DEMORRIS A. LEE
Published February 2, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - A Pinellas County judge has denied a motion that would have allowed two Tampa Bay area women to keep dogs rescued after Hurricane Katrina.

And now a Louisiana couple's quest to reclaim the dogs could be headed to trial the week of April 16.

An attorney for one of the defendants had argued earlier this week that the plaintiffs' claim should be dismissed because the Humane Society of Pinellas took legal custody of the displaced dogs by virtue of "state police power" and also exercised its "power of authority under Pinellas County code" in adopting them out.

But in an order signed Wednesday and released Thursday, County Judge Henry J. Andringa wrote that "the two dogs in question were not impounded pursuant to the county's ordinance."

Steven and Dorreen Couture of St. Bernard Parish, La., filed suit in June against the Humane Society and the two women who adopted the dogs, Rhonda Rineker of Dunedin and Pam Bondi of Tampa.

In the aftermath of the hurricane, the Coutures left their dogs at a makeshift Louisiana shelter.

The Coutures tracked the dogs to Pinellas County in early 2006, but by then, the Humane Society had adopted them out - the St. Bernard to Bondi and the shepherd-mix to Rineker. Both adoptions took place in October 2005.

The Coutures' attorney, Murray Silverstein, said Andringa "did the right thing under the law."

Silverstein said he plans to file a motion today asking Andringa to halt the legal proceedings and order the dogs returned to the Coutures.

He said the dogs should either be returned to the Coutures or be held by an independent body, such as Animal Services, pending a final hearing or trial.

However, Camille Godwin, Bondi's attorney, said she doesn't think the case is over. She said it will be left to a jury to decide whom the dogs belong to and whether they were abandoned.

Besides denying the motion for dismissal, Andringa granted a motion by Silverstein that allows the plaintiffs to proceed on their ownership claim against Bondi and Rineker, but abates their negligence claims against the Humane Society for "subsequent, separate adjudication."

Silverstein said the separation of the two issues would help expedite resolution of "the primary issue in the case," which is the ownership of the dogs.

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

[Last modified February 2, 2007, 00:17:08]