[nagdu] Owners of Doberman in Battery Park City say condo board is barking up wrong tree

[Ginger Kutsch]

Owners of Doberman in Battery Park City say condo board is barking up wrong
tree 

Lawrence and Stella Jacobson say 'Big Honey John,' their beloved Doberman
Pinscher, is a service dog - and call him 'one of the family.' The board
wants the pooch evicted.

By Kerry Burke AND Bill Hutchinson / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS 

Published: Wednesday, November 28, 2012, 10:17 PM

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/doberman-owners-condo-board-barking-wron
g-tree-article-1.1209916

 

The Battery Park City owners of a Doberman pinscher blasted their condo
board Wednesday for barking up the wrong tree when it went to court to evict
the pooch.

Lawrence and Stella Jacobson say "Big Honey John," their beloved Doberman,
is a service dog - and they call him "one of the family."

"We would never, ever let this dog go. That's a sin," said Stella Jacobson.

 She said they got the dog for her ailing 75-year-old father, who became
deaf after surgery to remove a brain tumor.

 But the Cove Club Condominium board says it doesn't believe the animal is a
service dog and accused the Jacobsons of breaking the condo's rules against
big dogs.

"The condominium did everything in its power to avoid litigation, but the
resident refused to abide by a condominium-wide policy prohibiting large
dogs," board attorney Matthew S. Brett, of Belkin Burden Wenig & Goldman,
said by email Wednesday night.

"Despite requests to the contrary, the resident has never provided the
condominium with proof that his Doberman pinscher puppy is a registered
service dog or that there is any condition which would necessitate a service
animal," Brett added. "Instead, the resident claims that the dog is needed
for his father-in-law who actually lives in another apartment and not with
the dog."