Re: chickens in cohousing | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Bonnie Fergusson (fergyb2yahoo.com) | |
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2008 12:14:51 -0700 (PDT) |
I agree that the issue of pets or other small animals in cohousing is one of the more consistently controversial issues accross communities. I think one factor in how difficult this issue becomes, that is not often thought through sufficiently, is the issue of how much space and how different species concieve of "their" territories. In our very dense, very urban community, one thing that became clear after move in (with a no limits on pets policy in place) is that while all the people had agreed to be a community the pets had not really been consulted and some reacted badly (from the human point of view) to the density of other animals they were asked to share their "territory" with. We basically all gave up having mats in front of our doors because they were so consistently pissed on by our domestic animals "marking" their territory. And the pet policy which keeps evolving continues to stir up intense feelings periodically. The gardners (we have a very small garden in a sea of concrete) were intensely unhappy about the pet urine load in the garden, which has created "dead zones" where anything put in that spot dies, there was tension between the dog and cat owners about whose pet was contributing most to that load, there was demonstrably too much pet feces in spite of the fact that everyone claimed to be cleaning up after their pet, there were complaints about barking, whining, etc. Basically too many animals sharing too small a space. And the personality of some pets, changed in response to the stress of too many animals in too small a space. This became particularly noticable when their owners went on vacation and boarded their pets elsewhere with friends in single family homes where the pets reverted to their previous behaviour patterns. We all love our pets and want to bring them with us no matter what, but it's clear to me (I didn't have a pet at move in although I've had them in the past) that there are limits to how much "crowding" different animals can easily tolerate and we forget that just because the people have all bought into the concept of sharing doesn't mean their animals have. Obviously this issue would probably be less intense with more common and/or private space and more distance between them--which on the other hand is the opposite of what most cohousing design is about. Even though it is practically unAmerican to think it, I now believe Cohousing Communities would be better off (and their pets would be better off) if there was a policy limiting the number of pets before move in. Bonnie Fergusson Swans Market Cohousing Oakland, CA
- Re: Firearms Policy, (continued)
- Re: Firearms Policy PattyMara Gourley, July 8 2008
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Re: Firearms Policy balaji, July 8 2008
- Re: Firearms Policy Sharon Villines, July 8 2008
- Re: chickens in cohousing Racheli Gai, July 8 2008
- Re: chickens in cohousing Bonnie Fergusson, July 8 2008
- Re: chickens in cohousing Cynthia Armistead, July 8 2008
- Re: chickens in cohousing Joanie Connors, July 9 2008
- Re: chickens in cohousing Craig Ragland, July 8 2008
- Re: chickens in cohousing Sharon Villines, July 9 2008
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