Sutton Place dogfight
He may wear a halo in pictures – but neighbors say this pup’s a real a devil dog.
The fur is flying at a posh Sutton Place doorman building after residents accused one woman’s pet dogs of being vicious mongrels – but she insists that the pooches couldn’t have acted cruelly because they are certified, award winning therapy dogs.
Liz Weston, a writer, says that her dogs Kodi and Theo work cheering up sick kids at hospitals. Theo, a bulldog, even recently appeared in a promotional picture for the “Angel on a Leash” program wearing a halo and garland of flowers.
Despite Theo’s angelic image, the tenants corporation at 14 Sutton Place South allegedly says he brutally attacked another dog — and that both he an Kodi are hounds from hell.
Weston was ordered by the building to keep the dogs on choker collars at all times and only use the service elevator with them.
Weston filed the suit Tuesday, demanding that the building bigwigs get off her dogs’ backs and rescind the restrictions.
“It’s like they are on a witch hunt for me,” she said. “It’s insulting that these two animals are doing so much and there are people in this building who are prejudiced against them.”
She also added: “I love these animals. They’re basically like children to me.”
The trouble started on April 30, 2010, when the 11-year-old 72-pound Theo tangled with a wire fox terrier named Lola owned by fellow resident, Jane Herrick.
The suit only describes a “brief altercation.” But yesterday Weston admitted that he bit Lola on the tail, racking up a $600 vet bill. She says that she paid to fix up Lola, and she believes the pup’s owners should just drop it because it was an isolated incident.
But Herricks husband, Ed Wollman, says he thinks Theo and Kodi are bad to the bone.
“Her dogs have attacked multiple times, muzzles are not a bad idea,” he said. “In the spring, my wife was in the elevator and . . .her bulldog was in the hall with no leash and it went hog wild. The bulldog, tore into the elevator and attacked [his dog] Lola.”
The dog fight was strange behavior for Theo, who has been honored by both New York Presbyterian Hospital and Ronald McDonald House for his kindness to sick children.
Also yesterday, the Delta Society, which registers therapy dogs, vouched for the dogs. They said both pooches had been inspected and found to be gentle enough for therapy.
Weston, whose lived in the building for 11 years, says the other dog owners are throwing their weight around, and ignoring incidents in which their dogs bit people.
She says she just wants dogs, who are both sick, to be able to use the normal elevator.
“I would like to come and go freely like I did before the incident,” she said.
