Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: send those pet policies

[Raines Cohen (rc2-coho-L]

On 6/12/03 8:02 PM, Tree Bressen <tree [at] ic.org> wrote:

>My friend
>wrote back, it turned out she was looking for pet policies, and you know
>what?  She said there was only ONE, count that, ONE, pet policy in the
>archive!
>
>Now what kind of showing is that?!  :-)

It may also indicate that policies don't need to be complicated, lengthy 
or formal enough to call them a "document"; or even necessarily be 
spelled out, if you have a clear enough understanding of underlying 
principles (like "clean up your own messes" / "don't make enough noise to 
disturb others") and a system for communicating about 'em.

At Swan's Market Cohousing (Oakland, CA), pets are allowed up to the 
city's legal limit and have to be "under control to the satisfaction of 
all members". In practice this means that if your cat is making messes in 
the garage you'll hear about it, but neighbors may cut you some slack if 
you're in a wheelchair.

At Berkeley (CA) Cohousing, the policy is (as best I can find so far) 
unwritten, but neighbors expressed concern when they learned that we'd be 
moving in with "another" <raised voice> cat... with the hope that she'd 
be an indoor cat but the understanding that you can't teach an old cat 
new tricks... and then guidance related to keeping her out of the CH and 
belling her to give the birds fair warning (and maybe keep her indoors 
when the birds are fledging), and commiseration about cats who visit one 
another's units and eat up one another's food.

One neighbor with a green thumb figured that offense is the best defense 
when it comes to keeping cats from digging in our community garden, so 
she claims she marked it with the pee of a larger predator: her own!

Our cat Lucy is smart enough to stay out of the way of the raccoons that 
occasionally nest in the palm trees, and friendly toward some other 
critters that come wandering by at night. She's a "people cat", so she 
likes to hang out near the CH when there's an event there, and sometimes 
hop up onto the CH roof and wander into the upstairs unit through an open 
window, possibly helping remove or at least deter the roof rats.

Raines

P.S. Try a Google search for "Cohousing Pet Policy" and you'll find more:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=cohousing+pet+policy



Raines Cohen <my initials,2,dash,coho,dash,L at my first name .com>

  Member, Swan's Market Coho [Oakland, CA] <http://www.swansway.com/>
Where hummingbirds are now in season

  Secretary, Berkeley [CA] Cohousing
Sitting on my couch, looking out the window at a squirrel coming down the 
tree in our porch to taunt Mouser, my neighbor's cat.

  Facilitator, East Bay Cohousing [on hiatus] <http://www.ebcoho.org/>

  Boardmember, Coho/US <http://www.cohousing.org/>
Just got my transportation to the conference - major-airline flights less 
than $140 one-way with less than a week's notice, and Amtrak just $60 
each on the way back, enjoying the incredible scenery climbing the 
Rockies and the Sierras on the mornings longest days of the year!

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