Woman Receives $165,000 Pay Day For Emotional Support Parrots

A woman has been awarded $165,000 in an emotional support case for her three parrots. The woman, Meril Lesser, moved into The Rutherford co-op apartment building in Manhattan with two parrots in 1999 and didn’t receive any complaints until March 2015, five months after buying her third parrot. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection even visited the co-op 15 times the year of the complaint and found no violations. Lesser, who has anxiety and depression, brought the parrots to soothe and comfort her. She put later the co-op up for sale for $467,500 in 2019, but prosecutors say the co-op rejected an application for the purchase of the property as an act of retaliation. A judge has since signed a decree in which the co-op has to offer Lesser $585,000 for her shares in the co-op. (Newser)