Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: need feedback re community pet policies

[Joanie Connors (jvcphd]

Yes, it was for you, Diana, but it was a general question also. Many towns
and villages are also struggling with that issue.
It sounds like your community did excellent work!

On Wed, Jul 31, 2024 at 9:04 AM Diana Carroll <dianaecarroll [at] gmail.com>
wrote:

> Joanie was that directed at me? We certainly have bird lovers here at
> Mosaic. That's one of the reasons we have a limit, as a compromise between
> people opposed to outdoor cats and people who have outdoor cats.  and
> probably part of why the actual number has been going down instead of up.
> My concern about the exception request was theoretical, no one has ever
> actually requested an exception since the initial round of move ins when
> people brought cats who were already accustomed to life outdoors. For some
> cats it's not really feasible to transition them to indoor only.
>
> Diana, keeper of three indoor only cats
>
> On Tue, Jul 30, 2024 at 2:08 PM Joanie Connors <jvcphd [at] gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I'm surprised you have not run into bird lovers in these discussions
> about
> > cats outside, since cats kill so many birds.
> > As a cat lover who loves birds, I've chosen to restrict my cats to life
> > indoors. So far they do not seem to be suffering.
> > Joanie
> > No community yet
> >
> >
> > On Tue, Jul 30, 2024 at 10:45 AM Diana Carroll <dianaecarroll [at] 
> > gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Four dogs for the whole community? How does that work in practice? If
> the
> > > community is at capacity, and someone needs to sell their house, do you
> > > tell them they can't sell their unit to dog owners? What happens if
> > > someone's dog has puppies? What happens if someone gets married and
> their
> > > new spouse has a dog?
> > >
> > > Sorry, I know you didn't create the policy, I'm just having trouble
> > getting
> > > my mind around your existing policy.
> > >
> > > Liz Magill already shared the key points of Mosaic Commons's policy,
> but
> > I
> > > want to add one bit, which is that the limit on outdoor cats is "soft",
> > > meaning someone could ask the Trustees for an exception. No one has yet
> > > done so -- the number of outdoor cats has gotten fewer over the years,
> > not
> > > more -- but speaking as a former Trustee, I found the policy troubling.
> > > What if we did hit capacity and someone did ask? On what basis would we
> > > make the exception? The policy provided no guidance. Is it an automatic
> > yes
> > > unless there's some egregious reason to say no? What if we say yes to
> one
> > > household, and then no to another...will that appear to be favoritism?
> > This
> > > is really a larger issue with policy exceptions in a cohousing context,
> > but
> > > our pet policy is one of the few policies that explicitly calls out
> > > exceptions being possible.
> > >
> > > Diana
> > >
> > > On Tue, Jul 30, 2024 at 10:22 AM Bonnie Fergusson via Cohousing-L <
> > > cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
> > >
> > > >      Pets are a frequently controversial topic in Cohousing
> > communities.
> > > > Our policy here which is working so far is that there is no limit on
> > pets
> > > > but none are allowed in the Common House (due to allergies) and all
> > > > dogs must be on a leash or under good voice command in the presence
> of
> > > > their owners (depends on how well trained the animal is—we have one
> > > elderly
> > > > choweenie who is totally socialized, and unthreatening who is pretty
> > much
> > > > always off leash; the rest of the dogs are always leashed when
> outside
> > on
> > > > our premises. The cats are not allowed in the garden because their
> poop
> > > was
> > > > a problem for the Garden Committee folks, although there are feral
> cats
> > > who
> > > > gain access so I don’t know how useful that rule is.  Cats are only
> > > allowed
> > > > outside in the presence of their owners who keep an eye on them.  In
> > > theory
> > > > no pooping or peeing is allowed in the garden area and of course
> owners
> > > are
> > > > required to clean up any accidents.     Good luck in working out
> rules
> > > that
> > > > work for your community.Bonnie FergussonSwans Market
> CohousingOakland,
> > CA
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On Tuesday, July 30, 2024, 5:04 AM, lisa pletka <
> lisampletka [at] gmail.com
> > >
> > > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > >  Hello, co-housers
> > > > I am a fairly new member at Santa Rosa Creek Commons, a limited
> equity
> > > > intentional community in Santa Rosa, CA. Our community is now 42
> years
> > > old,
> > > > and there has been some contention around pets and how many are
> allowed
> > > on
> > > > our campus. (Our long-standing policy permits only 4 dogs and 8 cats
> > on a
> > > > campus housing 35-40 people.) I am serving on an ad hoc committee to
> > > > re-evaluate our pet policy.
> > > >
> > > > I would really appreciate hearing from other co-housing communities
> > about
> > > > the pet policies that work for you. Specifically, do you set a limit
> > for
> > > > the number of animals allowed per household or in the community as a
> > > whole?
> > > > Plus any other restrictions you think are important.
> > > >
> > > > Thanks in advance for your feedback -- Lisa Pletka
> > > > _________________________________________________________________
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> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
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