Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Pet Policy for Cats in Co housing community

[John Beutler (jabeutler]

Black snakes are much better ratters than the average cat! As are small 
terriers...

Cheers

JAB

Sent from my tricorder

> On Apr 24, 2015, at 3:46 PM, Beverly Jones Redekop <beverly.jones.redekop 
> [at] gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> ​Many people think it's a grand idea to create policies restricting outside
> cats, but they don't think through the whole situation.  Just like how
> exterminating wolves in what became Yellowstone park seems to have favoured
> elk, causing problems for willow, beaver, and waterways​, there are
> problems with banning outdoor cats.  Outdoor cats compensate for many
> human, sloppy, rat-friendly practices: humans attract rats with imperfect
> composting, with unharvested fruit, with the feces of their pet dogs, and
> with bird feeders.  Outdoor cats usually take care of the resulting rats
> without too much notice (or credit or appreciation ;-)
> 
> If you do wish to limit outside cats, your policy at a very minimum should
> restrict BOTH outdoor cats and birdfeeders.
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
>          Beverly Jones Redekop
> 
>    beverly.jones.redekop [at] gmail.com
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> On Fri, Apr 24, 2015 at 6:26 AM, Sharon Villines <sharon [at] 
> sharonvillines.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On Apr 24, 2015, at 8:50 AM, Coleen O'Connell <oconnellcoleen [at] 
>>> gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> If you lived in a regular neighborhood
>>> you would have zero control.
>> 
>> Actually not. It depends on whether you are rural or urban. Outdoor cats
>> are illegal in Washington DC. The cats could be reported, or caught and
>> turned in to animal control.
>> 
>> The reason we finally got a pet policy at all is that we consulted Animal
>> Control on the interpretation of the law on dogs. Unless they are in a
>> fenced yard that belongs to a privately owned house, dogs have to be "under
>> the control of the owner." "Under control" means the dog is on a leash or
>> close enough for the owner to grab them. A child under 14 (?) doesn't
>> qualify as a person who can control a dog. To walk a dog on a leash, they
>> are supposed to have an adult present.
>> 
>> A condo doesn't qualify as private home. If we had allowed dogs to be free
>> roaming on our property, we would have been liable as a community for their
>> actions. Since a number of our members had been subject to or had close
>> friends subject to dog bites (one young child being bitten in the face
>> leaving permanent scars), no one was willing to take that risk.
>> 
>> The control of cats is not so strict as dogs in DC but it could be
>> enforced. Cats are more of an irritant.
>> 
>> Sharon
>> ----
>> Sharon Villines
>> Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
>> http://www.takomavillage.org
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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>> 
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