Estranged son challenges will benefitting animal foundation

Monday, May 17, 1999 | 7:34 a.m.

Robert Schreffler III of Maryland, through his Las Vegas attorney Wesley Yamashita, filed an objection to the will in District Court.

Judge Lee Gates set a Sept. 8 trial date to determine who should receive the estate of Robert Schreffler Jr.

"There is no question he loved animals and contacted the Animal Foundation, but he also had been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic," Yamashita said of the elder Schreffler. "You have to be competent when you make out a will."

Mary Herro, longtime director of the Animal Foundation of Nevada, said her organization does not count on any promised money until it is in the bank.

"We are not going to put up any big fight over this," she said. "We'll tell the judge what Mr. Schreffler said his wishes were and we'll leave it to the court to make the right decision. Our desire all along has been to fulfill Mr. Schreffler's wishes."

The money Schreffler bequeathed to the foundation is to go to the lost dogs wing at the organization's new $5 million shelter.

Schreffler was at one time a classical trumpeter who played in the orchestra at the Chicago Civic Opera House and operated a music store in a Chicago suburb.

Schreffler was 69 when he died of cancer last month. His gift was the largest bequest ever to the Animal Foundation.