The Battle of the Fur-ous Custody is unfolding in the East Village, where a woman is allegedly clinging to the canine “daughter” she has shared with her ex-boyfriend – and is suing for the puppy’s return .
Laila, an 11-year-old black and white miniature Australian shepherd, has been wandering back and forth between the former couple’s homes for years, until the COVID-19 epidemic stopped everything last summer.
At the time, when 35-year-old Melissa Mitresky and her ex-boyfriend, Michael Ellenbogen, got into a legal tug of war.
Ellenbogen claims that according to a November 2 Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit against him, Miresky refused to allow Lyla to return to New York to take over.
He said that he bought Lyla from a breeder in 2009 and determined it to be his “emotional support animal” for stress and anxiety.
The two split up in 2015, when Ellenbogen moved to Nashville in 2018, still sharing dog custody. Mitresky later e-mailed Eileenbogen to Lyla to maintain her loneliness, stating that she was able to find a new interest. Because potential lovers think he is holding an “attachment” to Ellenbogen through the dog, he claims in court papers.
“That’s all I have and my heart is.” My heart is constantly breaking. … I have been very lonely and Laila has been my biggest support. I love him dearly! ”Mitresky wrote in an email included in the court file.
Ellenbogen replied, as a request to keep Lyla “beyond an inappropriate thing to ask,” Lyla is a daughter to both of us; I feel the same things you do when I don’t have that. “
He said that their mutual attachment to the dog is something a potential companion should understand.
“If the person is not a fool, they will understand that she is like a daughter and ‘not just a dog’; most f-eaths think of dogs like moral people – and will feel that a daughter is in custody custody.” There is no attachment to a former partner, ”he wrote in another email included in the court papers.
But on December 22 against Ellenbogen, Mieterski claims that she is the one who provided the cash for the purchase of Lyla, as well as the care of the dog for years. In the filing, East slams her as “abusive”, and accuses her of getting a doctor to concoct Lyla’s emotional support animal status so that she can travel with Lyla.
A trip to Tennessee means that Lyla rides in the aircraft’s cargo area, which is “definitely not in her best interests,” Mitresky argues in court papers.
And furthermore, Mitreski alleged in the litigation, Ellenbogen is engaged and has a new puppy.
“He has clearly moved on with his life,” Mitresky said in court papers.
The best place for Lyla is with Mitresky, she sues Ellenbogen in the legal papers, accusing her of only being a “medal” and being involved in my life. “
Leave a Reply