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Article
Courtesy of The Palm Beach Post
By
Josh Mitchell
Thursday, June 17, 2004
A
battle over an elderly woman's Chihuahua has roused legions of supporters for
the widow and forced the resignation of a condominium board president who
fears for his safety after enforcing a no-pets rule.
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The
uproar comes after 85-year-old Bernadette Casale was ordered to give
up her pooch, Cha Cha. As news of her plight spread, scores of
supporters have inundated the Bridgeview condominium in suburban
Delray Beach with angry phone calls and e-mails.
"It's
getting pretty scary," Casale said.
So
scary that board president Chris Termini has resigned after serving 12
years on the board. Termini declined to comment Thursday to avoid
stirring more controversy.
"One
letter said to the effect, 'If Ms. Casale
loses
her dog, my face will be
the last face you
see,'
" said Joe
Conigliaro, board vice president. |
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Bernadette
Casale has shared her Delray Beach condo with her pocket
chihuahua, Cha Cha, for five years and vows to stay put. But
the condo board says either the dog goes, or she goes.
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Conigliaro
said exempting Cha Cha would be unfair to other residents who must follow the
no-pets rule, which was first implemented about a decade ago after a community
vote.
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already vowed, "If she keeps that dog, I'm going out tomorrow and
buying me one," said Conigliaro's wife, Joanne.
The dispute began last month when Joe
Conigliaro spotted Cha Cha outside the condo and reported her to the
board. Casale admitted that she sneaked in her 2 1/2-pound pooch five
years ago because she was lonely.
Area residents have offered their homes
to Cha Cha and money for a lawyer. Lawyers have offered free
legal representation against the condo board. "I
says, 'I don't want your money. Donate it to your favorite
charity,' " said Casale, who estimates she has received 20
calls. She has retained a lawyer, she said.
The condominium board — which had
ordered Cha Cha to be gone by Thursday — likely will apply for a state
arbitrator to oversee the dispute, its attorney said.
Casale said she will move out of her
condo of 20 years before she gives up her beloved Cha Cha. |
Joe
Conigliaro, the board vice president who first reported the dog,
says board members have received threats due to their efforts to
evict the 2 1/2-pound dog. |
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She
hopes a doctor's note citing the need for a pet companion to help combat
stress and illness will sway a state arbitrator. Some residents have
successfully sued no-pets communities when citing health reasons, law experts
said.
Michael Gelfand, a West Palm Beach lawyer who
specializes in state condo law, said the Cha Cha dispute reveals the
perplexing situations condo boards often face.
"Unit owners have created an impossible
contradiction," he said. "They want everything perfect, including
their neighbors' doing things according to the rules. But when the rules are
enforced against them, they become mean and nasty against the neighbors who
have volunteered to do all the grunt work when no one else will step
forward."
Casale's supporters contend that Cha Cha causes
less harm than the no-pets rule.
"We're talking about a 2 1/2-pound menace
to society?" resident Dorothy Bernstein said. "I don't see anything
wrong with a pet."
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