Dogs' owner seeks pet protection

By WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 28, 2000

OLDSMAR -- Beverly Lassor says her neighbors hate her and her four beloved female collies. So much so, that she is seeking court protection for the dogs.

Mrs. Lassor, 53, who lives on Timber Bay Circle, on Sept. 19 filed a request for an injunction against her Oldsmar neighbors, William, 69, and Doris Bowling, 58, blaming them for mysterious illnesses suffered by her dogs and accusing William Bowling of hitting the animals.

The request accuses Bowling of hitting the dogs with a piece of pipe, throwing steak bones over the fence for the dogs against Mrs. Lassor's wishes and spraying the dogs with water from a hose.

In May, after a complaint by the Bowlings saying the dogs barked too much, a judge found Mrs. Lassor not guilty of an ordinance violation.

Not long after the judge's decision, the injunction petition said, someone tossed pieces of bread into her yard that a veterinarian said may have been laced with laxatives.

One collie ate a piece of the bread and came down with a case of severe diarrhea, the petition said.

The petition also said her other dogs became sick at other times and said Bowling may have been responsible.

The Bowlings deny the accusations and say they do not bother the dogs at all.

"I have no contact with them," Bowling said of Lassor's four dogs, who are named Babi, Fanci, Demi and Whoopi. "The dogs don't bother me . . . Somebody doesn't like them. Somebody's throwing stuff over the fence. Not me.

"I just want to be left alone. All I want is peace and quiet."

Mrs. Lassor, who uses a wheelchair and suffers from cerebral palsy, could not be reached for comment.

In her petition, she also accuses Bowling of mocking her for her disability.

He denied doing so.

Mrs. Lassor's attorney, John Shahan, said, "All we want is for him to be a good neighbor."

A judge soon will set a hearing to determine whether an injunction should be issued.

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