Animal Care Groups Sue Mentor Businessman

The Lake Humane Society and Caroline’s Kids Pets Rescue are suing Richard M. Osborne Jr. over a $4,500 refundable deposit dispute after the animal care groups decided not to lease space at a building owned by the Mentor businessman.

 The groups filed a lawsuit earlier this week in Mentor Municipal Court. The lawsuit says the Lake Humane Society and Caroline’s Kids Pets Rescue signed a letter of intent in November to lease 7,200-square-feet and paid Osborne a $4,500 refundable deposit. 

 “The letter of intent says that the $4,500 deposit would be returned if the parties could not agree to the terms of the lease,” said J. Jeffery Holland, a lawyer representing the animal care groups. “The parties could not come to an agreement on the terms of the lease. We asked for our money back. They (Osbornes) won’t respond to our calls and our letters, and they won’t return our money. My clients are organizations that are driven by volunteer activity and volunteer donations to rescue stray, abused and unwanted animals. For small nonprofit charitable organizations such as these, every dime is important.”

 Lake Humane Society and Caroline’s Kids Pets Rescue partnered to lease space for nonprofit bingo events to raise funds for their operations. Lake Humane Society runs a facility on Tyler Boulevard that houses stray and unwanted dogs and cats. Caroline’s Kids Pets Rescue operates what it calls a cageless sanctuary for abandoned cats on Morley Road in Concord Township.

 “The reason that my clients didn’t (agree to a lease) is that they felt it wasn’t going to advance their mission to save unwanted and abused animals,” said Holland.

Osborne did not respond to a phone call and email seeking comment Friday. However, he said to The News-Herald, "We started working (on the building) before we had a signed deal and we were working, we thought, in good faith," he said. "We put in a lot of work, trying to push along the process."

 The case will be heard before Mentor Municipal Court Judge John Trebets. A hearing date, however, has not been scheduled.