Court order forces shelter for felines to alter name

3/30/2001

The former Lend-A-Paw Feline Shelter on Hillwyck Drive has changed its name after it lost a court battle to retain the moniker. It is now called the Paws and Whiskers Cat Shelter, Inc.

The name change stems from a 1999 lawsuit in which the former Feline Shelter sued the Lend-A-Paw Foundation of Greater Toledo, Inc., to stop the foundation from using the name. Patti Rood, who once helped establish the former group, had broken off and begun the Lend-A-Paw Foundation after a dispute with other Lend-A-Paw members. The already tense relationship between the two organizations was further aggravated in 1999, when Ms. Rood's shelter on Airport Highway was raided over allegations of animal cruelty.

The Feline Shelter sued for the name, but Lucas County Common Pleas Court Judge Charles Doneghy ruled in January that Ms. Rood could maintain the name because she, in fact, had “developed and first used the Lend-A-Paw name and the original logo.”

All other aspects of the Paws and Whiskers Cat Shelter - its staff and its services - remain unchanged, said manager Dave Plunkett.