Kathleen Rice determined to keep puppy in co-op dispute

Call it the case of the co-op canine.

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice is fighting eviction from her Garden City apartment on grounds that she violated house rules after adopting a dog.

When Rice bought the co-op in October 2007, pets were allowed as long as they were registered, vaccinated and weighed less than 25 pounds, according to court papers the district attorney filed to block the eviction.

Rice got Pearl, a Morkie -- Maltese and Yorkshire terrier -- at the annual North Shore Animal League adoption fair on April 29 of this year.

"The puppy and I took to each other immediately," Rice said in a court affidavit.

Rice said she didn't realize the board of the 38-unit co-op -- a modest, four-story brick building -- had changed its rules in May 2010, prohibiting new pets without prior approval.

The policy grandfathered in animals already there and allowed residents to replace pets as long as they owned their unit.

"This case is all about the enforcement of house rules in a co-op," an attorney for the board, Marc H. Schneider, said in a statement. "The co-op contends that Miss Rice violated a house rule which prohibits her from harboring a dog in her apartment at the co-op. It appears Miss Rice contends that the rule, which the co-op believes is proper, cannot be enforced against her."

Schneider declined to discuss the board rules or any specifics of the case.

Rice said in the affidavit that she learned of the rules change from a neighbor while walking Pearl a week after the adoption.

She said she was never informed about the policy by the board or its members.

Rachel Wolf, who has lived there for seven years, said many residents, herself included, complained to the board about the new pet rules. "It's an unpopular policy, but they will not entertain any opinion other than their own," Wolf said.

Co-op board president John Mitchell did not respond to a request for comment Saturday.

In her filing, Rice said she grew up in "a family where pets were always cherished" and hoped to "continue that tradition in my own home." Permission to have a pet, she said in the affidavit, "was a significant factor in my purchase" of the apartment.

Had she known of the policy, Rice said, she would never have adopted Pearl. Subsequent efforts to obtain approval from the board were rebuffed, she said.

"Not only did the board's failure to properly notify residents of the new policy result in Ms. Rice relying on the building's existing pet-friendly policy when adopting Pearl, but the board also decided to unfairly and heartlessly allow some owners to keep their pets forever while forcing others like Ms. Rice to get rid of theirs," said Steven Cohn, Rice's attorney.

The co-op found out about the dog at some point and served Rice with the eviction notice on Oct. 27. The board gave her 30 days to come into compliance, court papers state.

Cohn argues that by waiting six months to begin eviction proceedings, the board waived its right to enforce the policy.

On Thursday, Rice obtained a restraining order temporarily preventing the board from imposing the eviction.

Rice, in the affidavit, said she can't imagine parting ways with Pearl.

"I am emotionally attached to her and would be devastated by her loss and the prospect of relocating her with someone else -- or being forced to relocate both of us somewhere else," she said.

With Ann Givens