Upper East Side dog lovers are happy to say goodbye to a French bookstore that is moving downtown. It comes less than a year after a store owner’s dog attacked several small dogs, including a toy poodle that died from horrific scratches.
La Library des Enfants is moving from its now-closed East 92nd Street store to the West Village, but there are still hurt feelings between residents whose pets were attacked and owner Linda Hudson. The outward anger continues to linger.
Hudson’s German shepherds have sacrificed at least four small dogs, and she and at least one other pet owner continue to fight the legal battle, which is expected to go to small claims court next month.
The quaint shop closed its Upper Manhattan location in February, but its sister cafe on the same block will remain open.
“I’m really happy (Hudson is gone),” said Akiva Tripp, whose dog Baby was killed in August.
“I don’t think she learned her lesson,” she added. “She showed no remorse.”
French children’s bookstore embroiled in controversy After a New York Times article in August revealed that four dogs were attacked by several Hudson German shepherds, including Psycho, who lunged at Tripp’s dog on Aug. 4.
[Syko] He literally put my dog in his mouth,” Tripp told the magazine, leading her to euthanize her “world” Baby, who suffered a fractured vertebrae.
On May 3, Syko, a white German shepherd, and his two brothers attacked a small collie mix.
Four days later, Hudson’s dog scratched a pair of small puppies, Cavachon and Maltipoo, who were walking in front of the store, The Times reported at the time.
All three dogs sustained injuries.
Laurie Davis, owner of a Cavachon store called Chloe, told the Post she was glad the bookstore wasn’t coming back to town, but she also hoped the cafe would go out of business.
“I just want to say to all the dog moms and dads out here on the Upper East Side, they don’t want her here at all,” Davis said.
She said she hopes the dogs won’t be taken there when West Village opens.
Hudson insisted that last summer’s turmoil had nothing to do with the store’s exit from the Upper East Side, telling the Post on Thursday that the contract had expired and that COVID-19 He said he did not want to renew it because his revenue had been severely damaged due to the pandemic.
“There is no business in that area anymore,” she said.
“We have nothing to do with the landlord or the dog or anything like that,” she insisted, adding that an opening date for West Village has not been set as renovations are underway.
The store was originally scheduled to open by late April, according to an online post from the store.
Hudson, who lives in Westchester County, claimed the dogs did not accompany her to the new store and that she has kept them at home since the last attack in August.
She also argued there was no need to kill Tripp’s toy poodle, a claim she made around the time the children’s library first came under scrutiny.
“Psycho didn’t kill anyone,” Hudson insisted. “She put the dog to bed.”
Tripp said a veterinarian told her the dog could not be saved, and reiterated that statement Thursday.
“It’s crazy that she keeps saying things like that,” Tripp said. “It shows what an evil person this woman is. The dog has a broken spine and the doctors said they can’t operate on it.”
Davis filed a lawsuit against Hudson last year, and a trial is expected to begin in the next few weeks.
She hopes to recover her dog’s medical bills from the attack and the cost of a professional dog sitter afterward.
Davis had scheduled knee surgery three days after her dog was attacked, and had to rearrange who would care for Chloe.
His distraught owner said the tiny pup required further treatment for his injuries, which cost him more money than he had originally anticipated.
Ms Hudson refused to pay for the dog’s care and said she told Ms Davis at the time that she was going to take care of Chloe.
“She’s greedy,” Hudson said of Davis, and Davis called Hudson a “pathological liar.”
“This woman excited me beyond words,” Davis said.
