Arrow and Heels star Stephen Amell is making headlines in an entirely new context. According to a new report from TMZ, Amell and his wife, Roswell, New Mexico star Cassandra Jean Amell, are suing their neighbors, Kristen Stavola and Jeremy Gardiner, over their animal adoption business. Stavola and Gardiner run an adoption and foster company called Rescues Rock Inc. out of their home, which is right next door to the Amells’ home in Los Angeles. According to documents obtained by TMZ, Amell’s suit alleges that Rescues Rock Inc. is housing upwards of 60 animals on its property, including at least eighteen dogs, and might be doing so illegally, as the neighborhood is zoned for residential only.
Amell, who previously played Oliver Queen / Green Arrow on Arrow, reportedly also claims in the lawsuit that the animals are making noises at all hours of the day, disturbing his and his family’s sleep. He also reportedly takes issue with the smell of the animals, and alleges that some of the dogs housed by Rescues Rock Inc. carry diseases. Stavola and Gardiner have reportedly lived next to the Amells since 2015. The court documents reportedly claim that Amell attempted to talk things out with Stavola and Gardiner, to no avail, causing him to seek legal action.
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Screenwriter Zack Stenz, whose daughter is a volunteer at Rescues Rock, recently took to Twitter to call Amell’s lawsuit “deeply upsetting,” and to claim that the company is actually a nonprofit licensed by the city.
“This is deeply upsetting to see,” Stenz’s tweets read. “My daughter has volunteered at this animal rescue for over 2 years & I’ve found it to be a professional, well run place that works with the Los Angeles shelter system to do emergency care for some of the county’s most vulnerable, at risk animals… I hope Mr. Amell reconsiders his attack on what’s a beloved neighborhood institution in Laurel Canyon that does indispensable work helping some of L.A. County’s neediest animals.”
The Amells recently welcomed their second child, a son named Bowen Auguste Amell, in May of this year. Stephen has been most recently starring in Starz’s Heels, which filmed its second season earlier this year.
