A handicapped Brooklyn man has gone to court seeking visitation rights to a tiny Yorkshire terrier named Bugie, charging the pooch was "dognapped" by neighbors.
Anthony Bruni, a mute slowed by cerebral palsy, wants to see Bugie at least three days a week and have a say regarding the dog's health and welfare.
"I have never had any friends I could go out with, I have never had a girlfriend, am not married, and don't have any kids," said the 39-year-old airplane mechanic in written answers to questions from the Daily News. "But when Bugie came into my life, these negative feelings of not fitting in with everyone else practically vanished."
"Bugie doesn't care about my disability," Bruni continued. "He provides me with something that humans are incapable of providing: unconditional love."
Bruni's lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Brooklyn Supreme Court, is aimed at longtime friends and neighbors Francisco and Elsy Asomoza, who rent the upstairs apartment in his two-family house in Midwood.
He said he bought the Yorkie for $150 four years ago, not only for himself, but for his little goddaughter, the Asomoza's 10-year-old daughter, Katherine.
Bruni, who works as an airline mechanic and travels often, said they shared custody of the dog for several years.
But things went sour last winter when he raised concerns that the animal was not walked enough and was confined to one room for long periods.
That's when the Asomozas cut off Bruni's access to the dog.
His lawyer, Paul Block, is confident the law is on Bruni's side.
"The court considers a pet to be property ... and we're seeking to have him recover his property back." Bruni, he adds, doesn't want to take the pooch away from his goddaughter.
"He just wants to visit his dog."
Efforts to reach the Asomozas yesterday were unsuccessful.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/loca...p-242055c.html