MADEIRA BEACH — What if a dog is a woman’s best friend, but also a man’s best friend? 
 
 She adopted the black Labrador retriever mix, but he paid for the vet bills. 
 
 At the end of the day, who is the rightful owner of 4-year-old Elario? 
 
 It’s a question that a Pinellas County judge recently pondered in small claims court. 
 
 The plaintiff was David Somerville, a Vietnam War veteran recovering from lung cancer who credits the dog with improving his health. 
 
 The defendant is his neighbor Tina Marie Walker, a 53-year-old woman who has owned Labrador retrievers her entire life and spent $5 to adopt Elario even though he was emaciated and suffering from kennel cough. 
 
 Judge Lorraine Kelly’s answer: Walker and Somerville must share custody, like divorced parents. She even created a calendar detailing pickup times. 
 
 "Both parties have spent a great deal of time with the dog," Kelly wrote in her order. "Witnesses say he shows great affection to both of his humans." 
 
 • • • 
 
 The story of Elario and his two owners began Jan. 7, 2016, according to court records. 
 
 Walker asked Somerville, 68, for a ride to the Pinellas County Animal Services shelter on Ulmerton Road. 
 
 She wandered through the hallways lined with cages, making her way to the quarantine section. She peered into the second cage on the left. 
 
 Inside was Elario, a black Labrador with honey brown eyes. His name, she learned later with a Google search, means joy. 
 
 On visits to Somerville’s apartment, she brought her new companion along. Her neighbor grew close to Elario, taking him on walks while she worked part-time jobs at a cafe and a restaurant. 
 
 For two years, the 100-pound Labrador sauntered between their apartments. 
 
 But a rift soon formed between the neighbors. 
 
 What went wrong, court records show, depends on whom you ask. 
 
 • • • 
 
 This is Walker’s version: 
 
 Months before the trip to the shelter, Somerville underwent lung surgery. His son asked Walker to keep an eye on him. She lived right across the hall at their Bayshore Drive apartment building facing the Intracoastal Waterway. 
 
 "We spent a lot of time together to the point where I stopped even having food in my apartment," she wrote in court records. "We did our shopping together, shared meals daily." 
 
 When she adopted Elario, she started taking him to Somerville’s apartment. 
 
 But something went awry when Walker went on vacation to Martha’s Vineyard last year and left Elario with Somerville. A few months later, in November, Somerville said he wanted to adopt him. 
 
 Walker offered to add his name to Elario’s microchip. 
 
 On Dec. 22, Somerville sued Walker in Pinellas County court. He wanted to be Elario’s sole owner. 
 
 "This dog is everything to me," Walker told the Tampa Bay Times. "I was only trying to share my joy with someone who needed it." 
 
 • • • 
 
 Somerville could not be reached for comment for this report, but this is what he told the judge in court records: 
 
 He walks Elario up to three times a day and takes him to the dog park in the evenings. When Elario cut his paw on a barnacle or needed a cyst removed, Somerville took him to the vet and handled the bills. 
 
 The animosity between him and Walker began when Somerville wanted Elario’s microchip printed with his name since, he said in court, he is more "financially stable" than Walker. 
 
 That’s when Walker, he says, started to keep Elario away from him. 
 
 "He does not get to see his dog friends at the park anymore," Somerville wrote. "He does not understand why when he sees me, he can’t come to me." 
 
 • • • 
 
 On a recent afternoon, Walker sat on a bench in a dog park next to the Madeira Beach Recreation Department. Elario was sprawled by her feet, chewing on a tennis ball. 
 
 "I love my dog," she said, wiping away tears as she glanced at the court papers on her lap. "It’s all I have in my whole life." 
 
 She has appealed and moved from the apartment building to avoid any more friction with Somerville. To this day, she says, Walker doesn’t understand exactly what happened between them. 
 
 Elario barked and ran in circles around her. He grew still as Walker picked up his soggy tennis ball. He bolted after it when she tossed it across the grass. 
 
 The next day, she would have to drop him off at Somerville’s apartment. 
 
 Contact Laura C. Morel at [email protected] Follow @lauracmorel. ||||| 3/26/2015 
 
 I love Prestigious Pets, but more importantly, my precious puppies love them! 
 
 
 
 Originally, I had one white furball puppy princess, which I sent to doggie day camp while I worked so that she could get her socialization and exercise. Eventually, we got a second bundle of doggy joy, which meant that day camp would be double the price. I started looking into dog walkers, because they tend to charge similar rates between walking one and two dogs. Economies of scale and all that. 
 
 
 
 Eventually, I found Prestigious Pets, and they have been amazing. I appreciated that they did a free initial consultation with my dogs to make sure that they would get along with the walker. And they did. Two walkers came to my apartment and played with my dogs. We talked about my dogs' nuances, personalities, and what I wanted out of the walks. I'm a little bit obsessed with my puppies, and really protective, so I wanted to make sure they got the best walker possible. I have also never had a walker before. I asked a ton of questions, and they were extremely patient and put all my concerns to rest. Here are additional reasons why I would recommend Prestigious Pets: 
 
 
 
 1. Dogs love them! 
 
 
 
 The walkers from Prestigious Pets are great. They're very communicative, responsive, and trustworthy. One morning when I was walking my dogs, I ran into my walker, who was walking someone else's dog, and I could see she was doing it very patiently and attentively. Also, my dogs were both very excited to see her, so I know they love her. 
 
 
 
 2. They go above and beyond. 
 
 
 
 In addition, Prestigious Pets goes above and beyond its expected obligations. Do you want the walker to get your mail? They'll do it! Do you want them to water your plants? Turn off your lights? Give your dogs water? They'll do it! My dogs use litter boxes because they're cat-sized and we live in an apartment. When my little one gets upset, he will kick up litter sometimes, and the walker cleans it when she can. I don't expect her to at all, but she does it anyway. It is really nice. 
 
 
 
 3. They are very accommodating. 
 
 
 
 If you sign up for weekly walks (which I highly recommend), they have a system where you can cancel or add a walk the DAY OF the walk before 9am. That is so convenient! I cannot tell you how many times I have forgotten a scheduling conflict or vacation and emailed them midnight the night before to reschedule a walk. They have done it cheerfully each time despite how scatter-brained I've been. 
 
 
 
 4. They care about the pups. 
 
 
 
 My younger puppy fractured his little paw a while ago, so he had a cast for a while, and the vet put him on exercise restriction. Prestigious Pets has been immensely sympathetic about the whole ordeal, and very accommodating about scheduling changes and changes with the walks. I've changed things on them so many times, according to the vet's instructions. (Walk him with the cast gently! Don't walk him with the cast! Walk him with the cast but avoid water! Walk him with the cast indoors! Don't walk him!) They've been very cheerful and understanding with each change. Also, the walker-- she is really caring. Even when she is only walking the other dog and not the little one, she will play with him so he is not as sad about being left behind. 
 
 
 
 5. They document their walks. 
 
 
 
 There was another reviewer that was concerned about confirmation that the dogs were actually walked. I haven't found this to be a problem. Prestigious Pets offers a sign-in sheet/log at my apartment that my walker fills out each day she takes the dogs out. When the log is full, she provides another one. She not only checks in, but she'll leave detailed notes about how the walk went, and whether the dogs relieved themselves outside or not. I think there might have been one time when the walker forgot to sign the sheet, but I emailed to confirm that the dogs had their walk (I know--I'm a helicopter parent to the pups) and they responded in a warm and timely fashion. 
 
 
 
 6. Other perks. 
 
 
 
 Prestigious Pets also offers the option of running with the dogs. I find this funny and awesome, even though my small fluffballs don't need it. 
 
 
 
 All in all, I'm really glad I found Prestigious Pets! Sometimes when I'm at work, trapped in my office surrounded by papers, I realize that its 1pm and that my dogs are probably frolicking about in the sunshine with their walker. That always makes me happy. ||||| Bizarre Twist in Puppy Case: MCC Instructor Fabricated 'Woodstock' Tale, Police Say 
 
 By Stephanie Price | 12:30 p.m. April 29, 2016 
 
 A McHenry County College adjunct psychology instructor has been charged with a felony in a bizarre twist in the case of Wo odstock, the “abandoned” 3-week-old puppy previously reported found along Route 14. 
 
 Hope A. Sanchez, 38, of the 400 block of Woodbine Lane, Fox River Grove, was charged April 28 with disorderly conduct – filing or causing the filing of a false police report, a Class 3 felony, according to Woodstock Police. Her bond was set at $10,000 and she is scheduled to appear in court at 9 a.m. May 12. 
 
 After a week-long investigation, Woodstock Police now say Sanchez received the small puppy as a gift from a Woodstock couple. Sanchez then took the puppy to MCC in Crystal Lake, where she teaches a human development class. She told her students she found the puppy sealed in a pillowcase along the roadside, a story police now say was fabricated. 
 
 “ The initial report of the dog being found alongside Route 14 in Woodstock has been determined to be unfounded resulting in the ... criminal charge,” Chief Robert Lowen said. 
 
 MCC student Natalie Kawell, of Woodstock, volunteered to take the pup to Hoof Woof & Meow Animal Rescue, 129 E. Higgins Road, Gilberts. Kawell did not know the story was allegedly false. 
 
 The police investigation revealed a Woodstock couple owns the dog who delivered 10 puppies in the family's apartment. Per the couple's consent, police visited the apartment April 27 and saw the nine remaining puppies, which were similar in appearance and age to the puppy found last week, and determined Woodstock was from the same litter. 
 
 After interviewing the couple, police detectives said they learned the couple gave the three-week-old pup to Dr. Sanchez, a therapist, who provides service to one of their family members. 
 
 In the meantime, the Woodstock couple allowed McHenry County Animal Control to take custody of the remaining nine puppies, which were then delivered to the care of Hoof Woof & Meow Animal Rescue, where little Woodstock is receiving care in a foster home. The mother of the litter, who purportedly serves as a therapeutic service dog for one of the household members, was not removed from the home. 
 
 “ The mother of the puppies was subsequently left at the apartment, as no immediate danger was evident,” Lowen said. 
 
 Kawell, the student who took the puppy to Hoof Woof & Animal Rescue, said she was very "taken aback" by the allegation her instructor made up the tale of finding Woodstock along the road. Kawell spoke to Sanchez April 28, before the charges were publicly announced, and the instructor "acknowledged what she had done was wrong," Kawell said. 
 
 "I just don't know why she said that," Kawell said. 
 
 MCC Interim Vice President Christina Haggerty said college administrators are aware of developments in the case and are addressing the matter. 
 
 "Upon learning of this development, we have immediately initiated college procedures related to this personnel issue," Haggerty said. "Please be assured that we are addressing this issue in the most appropriate and timely manner, and we are taking every measure to ensure that there will be no impact on our students, or in the classroom." 
 
 Like The Woodstock Independent on Facebook 
 
 ​ The response from the public has been tremendous since the original, now known-false story broke last week that little Woodstock was placed into a pillowcase, sealed with duct tape and abandoned along Route 14. 
 
 To date, Hoof Woof & Meow Animal Rescue has received 40 applications from people wanting to adopt the puppy, according to Kellie Reed, intake and foster coordinator and cofounder of the agency. With arrival of the rest of the litter, which includes six males and four females, Reed is hopeful she will find good homes for the dogs. 
 
 Woodstock's mother is a beagle/ Boston Terrier mix and his father is a beagle/ Boston Terrier mix. The puppies will be available for adoption at the end of May. 
 
 In addition to Woodstock's litter, the agency has 22 other puppies that will soon be available for adoption. Six puppies are a mix of beagle, pug and Catahoula Leopard dog. Three are Australian Shepherd mix and six are Labrador Retriever mix. Another two orphaned puppies, their breed unknown, will arrive from Memphis, Tenn., this weekend, Reed said. 
 
 Anyone interested in adopting a puppy should visit the agency's website www.hoofwoofmeow.org .
– A rift between two former neighbors has resulted in them sharing custody of a Labrador retriever mix, the AP reports. The Tampa Bay Times reports that Tina Marie Walker and David Somerville lived next to each other in a Florida apartment complex when he drove her in 2016 to an animal shelter, where she adopted Elario. When she worked, Somerville would take the dog for walks and to the dog park. He says he paid the dog's vet bills. That led to a rift over who really was the dog's owner and Somerville sued Walker in small claims court. Judge Lorraine Kelly ruled recently that they are to share custody and even drew up a schedule. Walker has moved from the apartment complex but now drops Elario off for his stays with Somerville. "Both parties have spent a great deal of time with the dog," Kelly writes in her order. "Witnesses say he shows great affection to both of his humans."