$140,000 Per Year for One Dog's Care? The Insane Battle Over a 'Simpsons' Co-Creator's Will

Hollywood Reporter ^ | 9/30/2015 | Gary Baum

[simpson96]

"Columbo, come on, boy, come on, let's go!" The 125-pound, 5-year-old Cane Corso, its obsidian folds of fur arranged in curled repose, just won't rise from the floor. "Come on, boy, come on, come on!" Arduously, Columbo finally obeys his owner, right hind leg limping as he lopes forward. "See how he's dragging that leg? Watch his hips, too. This is the behavior of a 12-year-old dog, not a 5-year-old."

Columbo's owner, cheerleading captain and injury analyst Tyson Kilmer, also is one of the go-to canine-aggression trainers for the entertainment industry (his clients have ranged from Tom Freston and Mike Tyson to Joni Mitchell and Rob Lowe). On a quiet September afternoon at his rambling home and training compound in Encino, Calif., with Columbo at his feet and his wife and business partner, Alison, at his side, it's his own aggression that he's trying to keep in check.

In what's emerging as one of the most peculiar estate battles in recent Hollywood history, the couple claims they've been left high and dry by the trust of the late Simpsons co-creator and animal rights philanthropist Sam Simon, their close friend who bequeathed them his troubled rescue dog after his death in March at 59 from colon cancer. The trouble is that the Kilmers got the dog but not the funds they say Simon verbally had promised them to maintain Columbo's estimated $140,000 annual medical and therapeutic care regimen that includes, in only-in-L.A. style, twice-a-week acupuncture that costs $3,640 per month. Simon, whose fortune is said to be worth several hundred million dollars, paid for this regimen until he died.

[simpson96]

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Geeze. I think I would give up the acupuncture right away.

[Vendome]

I would spend whatever it took for my punks.

One cost over $30k before she gave up the ghost at 15.

My current punk is 15, has tumors but, he doesn’t quit...ever....

[shotgun]

If I had that kind of money I would also do what I could for my pets.

But I would do for the orphaned children of the world multiple times over.

[Gaffer]

I think if the old man paid similar bills like the $140K they’re claiming it costs them now, then I think the dog’s care should be handled from the estate. The old man loved the dog it seems and wanted it taken care of, so what’s this in terms of an estate worth hundreds of millions. It’s not like it’s going to live forever.

[Texan5]

I understand the owner leaving whatever he could for his dog’s care-it was not anyone else’s money, after all.

I don’t have much, but I do all I can afford to so my pets will have a good life. My Siberian Husky is nearly 17-she gets around well, still romps and has a fine appetite. My cats live to be 18-20 on the average-the oldest was 22-I always adopt cats from the shelter.

If I had millions, I’d probably spend to the point of ridiculous on my dog and cats-I’d rather for them to have it than to have it taxed and wasted by the government...