If Donald Trump had hoped tapping Pam Bondi for attorney general would put an end to the controversy over the role he may have been barking up the wrong tree.
The decision has brought to light a bizarre canine custody battle in which the Tampa lawyer was blasted as having ‘no compassion at all’ by Hurricane Katrina survivors who accused her of stealing their enormous St Bernard dog.
Bondi, 59, served as attorney general for Florida from 2011 to 2019 and also represented Trump in his first impeachment trial before the Senate.
She has been thrust into the spotlight once again after Trump’s initial Cabinet pick, Matt Gaetz, was engulfed in scandal amid claims he had sex with a minor. Gaetz denies the allegations.
But Hurricane Katrina survivors Steve and Doreen Couture knew who Bondi was long before her notable political appointments.
During the 2005 hurricane, Steven had decided to ride the storm out with the dogs while his family evacuated.
He had thought he made the right decision until the levees broke and flooded the St Bernard Parish, leaving about seven feet of water in his home.
The family decided to leave their St Bernard dog Master Tank at a temporary shelter, under their name, until the dogs were later turned over to the Pinellas Humane Society.
Pam Bondi, 59, was involved in a custody battle over her adopted St Bernard dog in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina
Bondi served as the attorney general for Florida from 2011 to 2019 and also represented Trump in his first impeachment trial before the Senate
‘He was dying from heartworms. They had filled his heart. That’s what was wrong with him before the hurricane. If I thought I was sending him to a stable environment, where he would be cared for, as hard as it would be, I’d put him in my car and drive him back myself,’ Bondi said
But in amidst of the chaos of the storm, Bondi was able to foster the dog, changing its name to Noah after she had lost her own beloved St Bernard, Donovan, to cancer.
The Couture family tracked the dog down to Bondi’s home in Tampa Bay in January of 2006 and requested he be returned to them, but she refused and instead accused them of neglecting the dog.
She told the St Petersburg Times that she ‘took the dog who was a walking skeleton’, reported the Independent.
‘He was dying from heartworms. They had filled his heart. That’s what was wrong with him before the hurricane.
‘If I thought I was sending him to a stable environment, where he would be cared for, as hard as it would be, I’d put him in my car and drive him back myself,’ she added.
‘I made a promise to him that I would protect him.’
The Couture’s denied the allegations and revealed the dog suffered from heartworms since he was 10 months old.
This was when the Coutures sued her in what became the beginning of a 16-month legal battle.
The lawyer eventually got a new St Bernard, Luke, who has been seen with her on many occasions including in her political career
The dog was reunited with its owners in 2007 after Bondi promised to pay for its medical and food bills, which the family claim she didn’t do
Within days of the trial date being set, Bondi’s representatives approached the original owners ‘and said it might be worthwhile to sit down and have meaningful discussions,’ said the Couture’s lawyer, Murray Silverstein, reported Tampa Bay Times.
The dog was reunited with the Couture family in May 2007.
Plans for Bondi to receive photos and updates on the dog’s wellbeing soon fell apart, after the Couture’s claimed that Bondi failed to honor her promises to pay for his food and medical bills for life.
‘It was a burden, it really was,’ Doreen told the St Petersburg Times in 2010, reported the Independent.
‘Financially, emotionally, it was a really tough time.’
When asked if there had been any plans to keep Bondi updated about the St Bernard’s life, Couture responded: ‘Why should I? She stole my dog… She has no compassion at all.’
The lawyer eventually got a new St Bernard, Luke, who has been seen with her on many occasions including during recent political appearances.
She said of the incident in the aftermath: ‘I’ve received a tremendous amount of support from people and animal rights activists, and no criticism at all. Really, it has not been an issue.’