Dog prescribed by doctor may get couple evicted from mobile home

Dog prescribed by doctor may get couple evicted from mobile home
Spunky dog Lucy has eased Tavares owner’s depression, doctor says, but mobile-home park says pup must go

By Stephen Hudak, Orlando Sentinel

6:13 p.m. EST, February 18, 2010


TAVARES — Little Lucy could mean big trouble for Kenny and Verdie Cook.

The spunky chihuahua and Boston terrier mix that the elderly couple adopted on doctor's orders about four months ago could lead to the Cooks' eviction from their mobile-home park.

The park has a strict "no- dogs" policy, but the Cooks' legal-aid attorney argued that it is obliged to accommodate the couple — and Lucy — under a provision of the federal Fair Housing Act.

Though aware of the park's rule, the couple said they brought Lucy home from a Sanford animal shelter because Verdie Cook's neurologist and two other physicians thought that an emotional support animal would help the 78-year-old woman cope with anxiety, depression and early stages of Alzheimer's disease, which have interfered with her daily life.

"We weren't interested in breaking the rules, but if it could help Verdie, well, I'd do anything," Kenny Cook said while the pup gnawed a chew toy. "That dog has helped her where pills and the therapist really didn't."
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Dog prescribed by doctor may get couple evicted from mobile home