A rescue mutt named Marcus has sparked a bitter legal battle between the pooch’s attorney owners and their posh apartment building – with one side insisting the dog is a gentle companion while the other claims he is a vicious beast.
The board of 870 UN Plaza, where a two-bedroom unit is in contract for $ 2.3 million, first ordered Marcus’ owners Steven Phillips and Diane Paolicelli Phillips to muzzle Marcus after he nipped at a neighbor’s finger in June 2012.
Even though the victim, who was walking his own Sharpei breed at the time, “immediately stated that the incident was caused by his conduct,” the Phillipses at first agreed to restrain the 75-pound dog, according to their lawsuit against the building.
But the dog owners, who together run the midtown firm Phillips & Paolicelli LLP, eventually took off the muzzle finding it “inhumane and unnecessary,” they say in court papers.
A year later when Marcus barked at another neighbor—the board says he lunged at her—the Phillipses were ordered to put the muzzle back on or face hundreds of dollars in fines.
The dispute escalated when the board’s attorney threatened to report the 12-year-old dog to city Health Department officials seeking to have him euthanized.
The Phillipses, who moved into their duplex apartment in 2012, were slapped with an eviction notice on August 1.
The letter says their dog is “a nuisance or has disturbed or annoyed other occupants of the building, including the fact that such dog has bitten and demonstrated aggression towards other occupants in the building on more than one occasion.”
It warns that the couple’s proprietary lease in the co-op will be canceled on Aug . 15.
So the legal power couple sued to stay put—and even hired a Ph.D. animal behavior consultant named to examine Marcus and testify to his good nature.
Dr. Peter Borchelt wrote that the brown and tan canine is “a gentle and well behaved elderly dog who does not display any aggressive tendencies,” in a document submitted as an exhibit to the Manhattan Supreme Court suit.
The Phillips add in court papers that Marcus has lived “a litigation free existence.” He is “a beloved member of our family,” who only has a year to live because of kidney problems and arthritis.
They believe Marcus has been unfairly singled out by unnamed board members who are “hostile to big dogs,” according to court papers.
“There are other dogs in the building whose behavior is far more vicious and threatening than Marcus,” the Phillips sniff, adding that those owners have not been penalized.
An attorney for the building did not immediately comment.
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