Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Pets in Community

CoHo:

Maturity has arrived. Dealing with actual problems is tough enough without 

fussing over the presumed future problems; of course, if future problems are 

DEFINED and based on real data rather than imagined fears or cherry-picked 

cases, all that  real and emotional capital can be expended on real issues.

This is not to say that all of the previously-cited dire consequences; only 

that deeper examination of facts and contexts can save a lot of trouble.

I hope that Karen's (and Andrea's) posts were as good an antidote for the 

stressful stuff as it was for me. The story might be anecdotal, but after 

all anecdote is the singular of data. Karen's story reminded me of the 

barnyard truce of my childhood.

Best to all,
WT

----- Original Message ----- 

From: <kkudia [at] peoplepc.com>

To: <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2011 12:31 PM
Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Pets in Community

Andrea:

I visited Nevada City Coho about 1 1/2 years ago while visiting some 

family

in Napa area. I could not agree more with what you wrote. I was amazed to

see various dogs off leash, people walking around, children playing 

together

and one three year old child walking with a cat draped over her neck.
Visibly it spoke volumes. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Of
course, it was purely antidotal, but with your comments you reinforced my
impressions.

Karen D. Kudia
Anthony Florida

Andrea Carlson from Nevada CoHo wrote:

I've been reading the posts about dog and cat "policies" in communities
and
want to share some of our experiences at Nevada City Cohousing in Nevada
City, California.  In the formative stages of our community, there was
contention about what the pet policy would be.  (This was before move in
and
before any pets lived together).  I would suggest trying not to
pre-determine how things will work until you observe how they actually do
work.  We started out with a general policy that dogs are to be in direct

supervision of their owners at all times in common area, either leashed 

or

under voice control.  All pet owners will pick up after pets (either
theirs

or others as they observe it).  To this end, one neighbor carries an 

extra

bag with her just in case and another posted a pickup bag holder with 

bags

in a conspicuous place accessible for all to share.  No animals other 

than

service dogs are allowed in the common house.  We have no rules about
outdoor cats.  Also all pets are to be spayed and neutered and current on
vaccines.  This rather loose policy has worked out just fine for our
community which has a large outdoor cat population and substantial dog
population too.  I can say that all dogs within our community get along
well
even when encountering each other off leash.  There is one dog that was a
little too exuberant for an elderly shiz tu and has to be on leash when
outdoors.  Hence I would advise that you deal with individual problems as
they arise rather than impose over riding rules at first.  As far as the
cats, it is truly remarkable with a large cat population, there is
relative
harmonious co-existence among the felines.  The felines do set the rules
for
the dogs though and without incident the dogs seem agreeable to abide by

their wishes.   I am a veterinary technician and realize the risks of 

cats

being outdoors rather than inside.  That being said, both my cats are
indoor/outdoor and find great enjoyment in being outside, observing the
"action".  Mostly cats are territorial creatures and stay close to their
own
home turf (especially if neutered).

As a general statement, the animals have been good examples of what it
means
to live together peacefully in community.  Now it's just the human
interactions that need some work.

Sincerely,

Andrea Carlson

Nevada City Cohousing

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Re: Pets in Community	<– Date –> <– Thread –>
From: Wayne Tyson (landrestcox.net)
Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:41:12 -0700 (PDT)