Before Bonnie the dog joined their family, Laura and Sharif Alexandre say, they had a respectful relationship with their neighbors in Fitler Square.

The Alexandres adopted the rescue in 2023, according to social media posts. Shortly afterward, Bonnie became the center of a controversy that allegedly led to heated arguments, use of ultrasonic repellent devices, a Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections complaint, “no trespooping” signs, and, now, a defamation and harassment lawsuit against the Alexandres’ next-door neighbors.

The source of the dispute: Bonnie’s bathroom habits.

Dog defecation and concerns over cleanliness can be hot-button issues in Philadelphia, with residents expressing frustration that some owners leave on the street stinky monuments commemorating their canines’ bowel movements. There is even a lucrative market for “poop scoopers” in the region.

And dog waste isn’t just an ill-scented annoyance. The Philadelphia Water Department urges dog owners to be vigilant about scooping because dog waste is a pollutant.

But the new lawsuit, filed last week in Common Pleas Court, centers on claims of lingering smells from a dog’s defecation and the neighbors’ alleged response.

The neighbors, Derick Dreher and Gudrun Dauner, complained to the Alexandres about the odors that Bonnie leaves behind. The lawsuit accuses them of launching a “campaign of personal attacks, false accusations and targeted efforts” to damage the Alexandres’ reputation. It asks for damages in excess of $250,000.

In an email, Dreher said that the couple had not been served the complaint yet but that from his preliminary review, the lawsuit has “multiple defects.”

“We are the aggrieved party, not the aggressor,” he said.

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The Alexandres have a patio area that is adjacent to the path leading to the front door of the Dreher-Dauner household. A 5-foot brick wall separates the two properties.

As taught in the classic potty-training book for toddlers, everyone poops. And so does Bonnie, sometimes in the patio area, according to the complaint.

Dreher and Dauner began complaining about the smell from the patio in November 2023, the lawsuit says. The Alexandres maintained they take Bonnie out on a regular basis and clean the patio.

The conversations about Bonnie’s hygiene — in person, over email, and in Facebook messages — escalated.

In one November 2023 Facebook message that Dauner sent Laura Alexandre, she complained about the smell. Hosing the patio more frequently made things worse, she said, according to the suit, resurfacing the smell of urine that was previously dry.

“The only solution to this problem is in my opinion, that Bonnie goes to the trees out front or develops a rhythm to take regular walks,” Dauner’s message said, according to the complaint. “We have a dogpark really around the corner.”

The problem persisted into 2024, when in April the Alexandres received a “code violation warning” letter from L&I about a complaint regarding “dog urination and dog feces in rear yard,” according to a copy of the letter included in the lawsuit, which they say was submitted by Dreher and Dauner.

City regulations require that dog feces be cleaned up within 12 hours, even on the owner’s property. Violators can face escalating fines, which start at $100.

Inspectors closed the case in April 2025 after a visit, finding no violation, the complaint says.

The situation escalated further in September, when Laura Alexandre says she noticed Dauner pointing a “flashlight-like device” that emitted a “strange moaning sound” from a house window toward the patio.

Bonnie ran back into the house frightened, “a behavior we have never seen before,” Sharif Alexandre wrote in an email to Dreher, according to the complaint.

The Alexandres concluded that the device was an “ultrasonic dog deterrent device” and called the act “a serious escalation of our privacy and security.” These types of devices emit a high-pitched sound that is aversive to dogs but is supposed to be inaudible to humans, which some owners use for training purposes or to prevent dogs from reaching certain places. The complaint also says the neighbors used a “loud whistle” to scare the dog.

As a result, the dog “has suffered anxieties” relieving itself in the backyard, “and this has distressed the Plaintiffs and disrupted their lives,” the lawsuit says.

The final straw came in May, when Laura Alexandre began hearing from other neighbors that Dauner had been disparaging the couple in the neighborhood, at least once referring to her as “the poop lady.” The Alexandres also allege that some of their neighbors received anonymous letters complaining about failures to clean up after Bonnie.

Also this month, “no trespooping” signs appeared in the planters separating the two properties.

Gavin Lentz, an attorney with Bochetto & Lentz who represents the Alexandres, declined to comment.