Article Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel

By Sam Tranum
Saturday, June 19, 2004

A doctor prescribed Cha Cha for Bernadette Casale and the 85-year-old isn't about to give up the Chihuahua just because she lives in a no-pet community, her lawyer said.

Faced with an effort by her condo association to evict her 21/2-pound pet, Casale filed a lawsuit Friday arguing federal and county fair-housing laws protect her right to keep the dog. In the suit, she claims she's a victim of housing discrimination and asks for more than $15,000 in damages.

Association president Chris Termini has quit his post, saying his life was threatened by outraged Casale supporters.

Casale says she's physically and emotionally drained and can't sleep.

Residents often are stressed by big life changes -- retiring and moving to Florida, for example -- and they have plenty of time on their hands to fight, said attorney David St. John, who represents about 700 such associations in South Florida.

"Pets are a very common problem," he said. "It's the most contentious issue, really, in most communities."

Casale got Cha Cha five years ago. A widow with lupus, back problems and macular degeneration, she was depressed and couldn't eat or sleep. She thought Cha Cha would help her go on.

She said earlier this month she got Cha Cha even though she knew pets weren't allowed in her community, Bridgeview, near Lake Ida Road and Military Trail, west of Delray Beach. But on Friday, in the midst of the controversy, she denied knowing about the pet ban.

A neighbor recently complained about Cha Cha and Casale got a notice from the condo association attorney, Brian McKell, saying the dog had to go. McKell said the condo association was hoping to resolve the dispute in arbitration, but later he couldn't be reached for comment on Casale's lawsuit.

Termini said the association was just following its rules.

"If this is the way they take it, then let them do what they want around here," he said after quitting.

The officers of most condo and homeowners associations don't have the power to grant exceptions to rules, St. John said. They either can enforce them or change them, he said.

Still, at some point people just need to be nice to each other, said Jan Bergmann, president of St. Augustine-based Cyber Citizens for Justice, which advocates for residents' rights.

"Regulations should be obeyed, that's why you have them," Bergmann said. "But there are certain things where being neighborly and being human comes into play."

To avoid the dog's eviction, Casale and Cha Cha are claiming the protection of fair-housing laws that allow blind people to keep seeing-eye dogs, even in communities such as Bridgeview that don't allow pets. In her suit, Casale says she has mental and physical handicaps that limit her ability to take care of herself.

"[Cha Cha is] needed for her to alleviate symptoms of mental and physical conditions she has," said her attorney, Arthur Schofield.

Schofield declined to say what Casale's mental and physical handicaps are or what Cha Cha does to alleviate their symptoms. He said those answers could best be provided by Casale's doctor or a letter the doctor has written, prescribing the dog. Neither could be made available because of privacy laws, he said.

Whether dogs that make people feel better, but aren't trained to perform any particular task, are protected from no-pet bans by fair-housing laws is a question that's has come up in several court cases around the country recently, said Nova Southeastern University law professor Michael Masinter.

"It's really just beginning to crest as a debate," he said. "All of the court cases with which I am familiar have said no, the comfort animals can't stay. But that could change at any time.