Thanks to MikeInformer:

St. Petersburg Times (North Pinellas)  http://www.sptimes.com/2005/07/14/Northpinellas/Hulkster__Lilly_the_r.shtml

Hulkster, Lilly the rooster win latest round

What a tag team: The wrestler and his feathered partner win a court ruling on pet limits.

BELLEAIR - Lilly the relentless rooster can breathe a little easier.

Friday, a circuit court ruled that pro wrestler Hulk Hogan complied with town codes that limit domestic animals to five per household. The court agreed with the "Hulkster," who said the rooster didn't count in the tally because his family had a special permit for him.

After a February town inspection revealed four dogs, a bird and Lilly, Belleair's code enforcement board said Hogan would have to pay $100 a day unless he parted with one of the animals.

Hogan ( whose real name is Terry Bollea) took the town to the mat and appealed the board's decision.

Last week, the court quashed the fine.

"That's awesome. It's what (town officials) said originally, in the beginning," Hogan said.

But Al Raeford, a gardener for Hogan's next door neighbor, said things haven't changed much since the town told Hogan to cut back on his creatures.

"The rooster is still crowing and dogs are still barking and they still have more than five animals," he said.

Raeford said he's seen at least six dogs, two cats and a rooster on the wrestler's property.

Various town staff inspected the property and found as many as 14 animals - although different inspectors saw different creatures.

Town leaders gave Hogan until Feb. 7 to get that number down to five.

While the court agreed that Hogan complied with the town's request to limit the number of his animals, it did say the town legitimately concluded that the Hogans had originally violated the law.

The town code reads: "No person shall keep or maintain upon any residential property within the town more than a total of or any combination of five domestic animals at any one time."

Hogan and one of his attorneys, Paul Maney, had argued the code implied that each "person" in the household can have five animals. So, since the couple lives with their two teenage kids, they were well within town guidelines from the very beginning.

Town Manager Steve Cottrell said he couldn't comment on the recent ruling.

"I have not corresponded with the town attorney regarding any of that yet," he said.

Neighbors cried fowl shortly after Lilly came on the scene. When the cute fuzzy chicken started crowing a few years ago, Hogan's family, and their neighbors, soon realized that she was a he.

The town also received complaints about barking dogs and foul odors emanating from the family's yard.

In November, neighborhood advocate Edwin "Doc" Friesen, wrote a letter to officials begging them to provide some relief for Hogan's neighbors.

"I was down at our marina today," he wrote. "The dog noises were deafening; and the roosters were in full cry."

Less than four years ago, the St. Petersburg Times reported that as many as 40 animals called the Hulk's 2.3-acre spread in suburbia home.

Last December, Hogan's wife, Linda Bollea, said they cut their menagerie in half. And by February, their Belleair home had just six animals, including Lilly, they said.

They also owned two chihuahuas, Foxy and Star, and a Maltese named Cookie. But the couple said those animals didn't count, either. The dogs, which are registered with the Screen Actors Guild, actually reside at the family's Clearwater beach house and only visit the Belleair home to film their new reality TV show, Hogan Knows Best, the couple said.

Raeford said he thinks he might be featured in the reality series. Hogan, his wife, their two teenage kids and a camera crew showed up at his bosses' front door several months ago, he said.

There was a verbal smackdown, Raeford said, and he told the family they needed to follow the law.

After a story about the neighborhood feud ran five months ago, Raeford said his employer, Mary Rinker, also was harassed by the media.

"She's a nice lady and she really doesn't need all this crap this family is giving her," Raeford said.

But Hogan said the town's restrictions on animals are ridiculous.

"They'll probably tell you how many kids you can have, too," he said.

Lorri Helfand can be reached at 445-4155