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The chihuahua has lived at Imperial Cove condominiums since 1993. Now the condo association says he must go.
By MONIQUE FIELDS
© St. Petersburg Times, published July 15, 2001
CLEARWATER -- Pappah stands 8 inches off the ground, weighs 4 pounds and has a bark more fitting of a toy dog.
He's never too far away from his owner. At home, he sits by Dorotha Edgeworth's side. Outside, she zips him away in a straw purse and carries him everywhere, from church to restaurants.
Trouble is, Edgeworth's condominium association says the chihuahua must go.
Never mind that Pappah has lived at Imperial Cove condominiums since 1993. Or that his owner has a letter from her doctor saying the dog lowers her blood pressure. Or that everyone, including the president of her building association, knew the dog lived there for years.
Condo rules clearly state no dogs are allowed, said Tony Skrobacz, president of Imperial Cove Condominium Association VI.
Unwilling to part with her friend, Dorotha Edgeworth, 85, is looking for a new home.
"Nobody else will put up with my goofy ways," she joked.
She is considering moving to Chicago, where her children can look in on her from time to time. She hasn't yet decided if she will rent or sell her condominium.
Back in 1993, nobody had a problem with the dog. Edgeworth brought Pappah home to help her husband, Thomas, whose health was failing. The retired nurse was familiar with research that said dogs can help ease some ailments, and she credits Pappah with helping extend her husband's life for three years.
Skrobacz said the condominium allowed the Edgeworths to keep the dog until "Tom passed away or got better, at which time she was supposed to remove the dog." Edgeworth said there was no such agreement.
After her husband died in 1996, no one said a word about Pappah. But friends and neighbors knew he was there.
"I never gave the dog a second thought after Tom passed away," Skrobacz said. "I never heard him."
But neighbors began to complain. Skrobacz declined to say who.
It wasn't until 1999, that Edgeworth learned Pappah was a problem. Someone in the condominium wanted an exception to a condo rule. When that person was turned down, the person asked why Edgeworth was allowed to keep her dog, Skrobacz said.
For two years, the association mailed Edgeworth notices and asked her to remove her pet.
She contacted Francis Lee, a lawyer she said took her case free of charge. But last August, he advised her to find a new home for herself and Pappah.
In January, the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation sided with the association: Edgeworth had to get rid of the dog.
But there are defenses for such cases, said Ellen de Haan, a lawyer with the firm of Becker & Poliakoff, which specializes in homeowner association laws.
One could argue that too much time passed between when association leaders learned of the dog and when they tried to remove it.
Also, by knowing about the dog but ignoring it, condo leaders lost their right to evict
"Without knowing all the details, I would say in a situation like this, she had a lot of good evidence on her side and she could have at least argued her case and had a good chance of winning," de Haan said.
But Edgeworth said she is tired of fighting.
She just wants some peace for her and her dog.
"I'm not getting any younger."