Custody battle looms over New Orleans dogs

[TexasStooge]

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Reuters) - Two dogs that survived Hurricane Katrina are at the center of a custody battle between their old owners in New Orleans and their new ones in Florida.

Master Tank and Nila were owned by Steven and Dorreen Couture of St. Bernard Parish. When Katrina destroyed their home last year, they had to evacuate and left the dogs at a local animal shelter.

When the Coutures returned five weeks later, they learned the dogs had been sent to a shelter near St. Petersburg, where they were put up for adoption.

The Coutures came to Florida this week trying to get their dogs back, but the new owners have refused to return the animals.

Steven Couture said at a news conference he might consider legal action to contest the adoptions.

Pam Bondi, who adopted Master Tank and renamed him Noah, said the St. Bernard was near death from heartworms when she got him and is better off with her.

"I know in my heart I did the right thing," Bondi, a state prosecutor in Tampa, said in a television interview.

The new owner of Nila, a mixed shepherd, declined comment.

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