Really glad this was on 1A of the Tampa Bay Times.
Will Hobson: LARGO — This was never just about the pig, the neighbors say, but the pig was a problem.
Last March a loud, large, shaggy-haired man named Bernie Lodico moved into Bay Ranch Mobile Home Park. A few months later he brought Kojak, his blind, 300-pound pet pig.
Largo law bars livestock in residential areas. And Kojak stank, some neighbors say. Management sent Lodico a letter.
“It is our understanding that you have a pot belly pig living in your back yard,” wrote park manager Cliff Wicks on Sept. 26. “This is not allowed. Please place the pig somewhere else.”
Lodico replied with a letter from a psychiatrist at James A. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa. Lodico, 59, was a Marine who served in Vietnam. The pig is his “emotional support animal,” the letter explained, a pet protected by federal law.
“Mr. Lodico … has a mood disorder and numerous psychosocial stressors,” wrote Dr. Javier Cartaya. “This animal will support his coping skills.”
The legal battle between Lodico and the park was only beginning. And the neighbors were right. This was about much more than a pig.
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