Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Dogs in Community

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On 23 Jun 2011, at 7:44 PM, R.N. Johnson wrote:

> In the past we had a dog who growled at people, and that dog was not allowed 
> in the common area. 

Who enforced this? We have problems with no one wanting to be the enforcer.

In my opinion, the only reason we got a pet policy passed requiring dogs to be 
"under control of the owner" at all times is that the DC law is very clear 
about this. Their interpretation is that it refers to the ability of the owner 
to restrain the dog immediately. DC Animal Control interprets this as the owner 
keeping the dog on a leash or being able to reach out and grab the dog.

With 3 dogs and 20 children, some of us believe that dogs running free is a 
serious attack waiting to happen. There were times when several children ages 
5-9 or so would be running around in circles chasing the dogs and dogs chasing 
them, with all the dogs off leashes.

Child steps on dog's toes, dog defends foot, child goes to hospital possibly 
disfigured for life. The dog is not to blame. The child is still disfigured.

Finally we checked the law. If we allow dogs to run free on our property, the 
whole community will be liable for any injury, not the owner. We got the policy 
passed.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org