Couple Won't Appropriately Muzzle 75-Pound Dog, Co-op Board Moves to Evict

Aug. 15, 2014 — Married couple Steven Phillips and Diane Paolicelli Phillips, two lawyers — and yes, this sounds like a joke setup, but we have lawyer friends so we won't go there — have a 75-pound collie-German shepherd mix, Marcus. That's a big dog. And while it's 12 years old and arthritic, there have been "multiple incidents" involving the pet, co-op attorney Matthew Leeds, of Ganfer & Shorer, told the New York Daily News. In June 2012, for instance, he nipped a neighbor’s finger. So, the board wants the dog to wear a cage muzzle — presumably only when it's out of the apartment until it's out the front door, which really doesn't seem like a terribly long time or ordeal.

But the Phillipses, who got a different kind of muzzle that the board said still allowed unacceptable behavior, refused. The board moved to evict the couple — by today, as a matter of fact, though only giving them notice on Aug. 1 — and in return the couple sued. The irony? The ailing Marcus might not be around by the time the suit ends.