Should cities limit pet ownership?

vanity | Linda PraiseTheLord

[nothingnew]

Yup; How are you doing?

I'm well, thank you...but I'm afraid ErnBatavia has sent susan ostrich to seek me out and destroy me...What can I do?.....

FMCDH

[FairOpinion]

Find a pet-loving lawyer to challange the law.
It is intrusive -- what's next, a law telling people they can only have 3 children?

It is not anyone's business how many animals you have in your home, as long as they are well cared for and are not a threat or nuisance to others.

Also write to your representatives, asking them to introduce a bill to repeal the law.

There also must be other pet owners who feel the way you do, see if you can get some petitions going, get some publicity, write to newspapers, etc.

Unfortunately that is exactly how our freedoms are chipped away, a bit at a time, each is just something "little", "not worth making a fuss about", then when we wake up, everything we do is regulated.

It's the frog theory: "Put a frog into hot water, it will jump out. Put the frog into cold water, slowly turn up the heat, it will sit there, until it gets cooked".

We are all frogs, and the heat is being turned up slowly, but surely.

[Alylonee]

How on earth can cities impose laws like this? Some free Country. Does California have those laws? I hope not because at the moment I have 4 cats and 2 dogs between myself and my roommate. I can see how having a dozen cats might be unhealthy if not properly taken care of, however, I realize that unless there is abuse or neglect going on this is none of anyone's business. Another thing, a limit of 3 seems awfully harsh.

Commercials over... back to the Superbowl!


GO RAIDERS!!!!

[ErnBatavia]

but I'm afraid ErnBatavia has sent susan ostrich to seek me out and destroy me...What can I do?.....

Here's the antidote...another Uber-Lawyerette(Nice 'n Sassy!):

[Brian_Baldwin]

I do not own any pets, except for a fish in a bowl (I think it's a "Beta" and belongs to my daughter). Next door, they got this REAL BIG Great Dane that barks a lot, and he use to bark at me when they first brought it to their home but after a while the dog got use to me and he doesn't bark at me anymore so I don't really hate him like I use to. In fact, I sort of like him now, because he's gonna' really bark at any stranger/thief/other who climbs over the fence into my back-yard. And not too far someone has a chicken, even though we live in the suburbs, because it crows in the morning - and I've gotten use to it and really sort of like it, it isn't anymore noisy than the crows which live in the very tall tree behind my yard, and I've come to love these crows a lot over the years. Some folks, they let their dog poop on my front lawn, and I don't like that, but heck, what can you do? I figure, fertilizer. Even though my wife won't let me have a "pet", I've been wanting to get a box turtle to live in the backyard and in a warm pen. I also want a parrot (green), and I like to feed the birds even if the seeds start growing sunflowers and other vermin in my citrus and vegegarden. When I was a kid, I had two pet ducks, a pet dog, two pet pigeons who lived in a woodshed I built for them and were free to come and go, and I have a pet mouse also, and some water turtles, goldfish, and I even had two song birds who died from the cold. So I guess I would have been over the limit of three, and arrested or perhaps taxed into extermination. I still really, really want to get that box turtle, and I want a Chihuahua - but the only problem is my wife. If you count my wife, who won't let me get the Chihuahua, nor the box turtle, I would be over the limit depending on if you consider humans an animal. If anyone has a (land) turtle out there, let me know what is a good turtle to get and what I have to do to keep it comfy. Also, do they have babies, and if I have three or more turtles born from the first, I wonder what the law would say in this regard. Can a turtle be brought to the park, or ride with me in my Toyota? My wife use to live in the jungle, she knew all kinds of animals around her - I guess that is why she really doesn't think of any of them as "pets" ... Speaking of animals, I was out hiking with my wife a couple weeks ago and I saw a coyote - not far from our suburbs, and no we don't live in the boonies and coyote is not suppose to be around ... so the animals are really coming back into the neighborhood, in fact, I am not making this up, my parents not only saw two coyotes, they also saw a bear in an area where bears are suppose to be extinct. I wonder, if coyote eats turtles.

[this_ol_patriot]

Did you ever see the show "Animal Cops" on APL, it's like the Fox series "Cops" but deals with animal control officers. On one show they took 250 cats out of one home, yes that's 250, they were everywhere, they pulled a refrigerator back and there was 4 back there, they were in the rafters in the basement, in closets, on top of everything, even in drawers, not a rat in sight though. How they lived I don't know there were enormous mounds of feces in the litter boxes and you couldn't see the floor for the dirt. The officers had a bad time with ammonia from the urine and it cost the taxpayers a pretty penny to remove and destroy these unusable cats, they were like little tigers.

[Alylonee]

I think I actually saw that exact episode. Every time I start watching that show, I question as to why I started because I cry every single time I watch it. I know that even with my 4 cats, it is extremely difficult and crowded. I rescue different animals at times, so I am currently trying to find a home for two of them. At one point I had 8 of them in my house. It was way too much. None of the animals get the attention that they deserve besides the fact that it gets really dirty and gross. I can't imagine why anyone would get that many cats, but I still don't think that it is up to the city to regulate how many one can or can't have. I would like to think that animal control and concerned neighbors are enough to catch people like this, because the problem is that only decent citizens will follow the law or limit the amount of pets that they have. The dirty people that have millions of cats, probably would still own that many with or without the stupid law.

[potlatch]

There should be a limit. Our city of 60 thousand did not have 'zoning' laws. A woman from England bought the house next door to us and started collecting animals. When she let her cats out every morning, they came into our yard to do their business.

We put up a privacy fence, then she started building chain-link kennels in her back yard. The stink was terrible and we went to court many times as she would fight every ticket given to her. She amassed 17 cats, 25 dogs and a pot belly pig. The court rules don't help either as we were not allowed to mention any previous trial pertaining to the animals!

The animals messed up her brick house so badly, that she moved to a smaller house on her property. She then tried to use a water hose to wash out the inside of the 'animal' house, ruining the carpet and sheetrock walls!!

That turned out so bad that she told her insurance company that the sewage backed up in her house during a storm we had. [We're on top of a hill] LOL.

We and other neighbors found out her visa had expired and she was here illegally. We took her before a Federal Judge, who heard what a good neighbor she had been for over two years and DEPORTED her. The house is still vacant....

[Alylonee]

Having a law limiting the number of animals because of a couple of bad apples punishes the rest of us who might have more than 3 but not 40+. Wouldn't her case fall under the existing animal cruelty laws and health laws? It is not for the government to regulate everything we do. There are enough existing laws in place to rid the planet of people like this. Besides, doesn't 3 animals seem a little strict? I can see maybe a law that limits you to under a really high outrageous amount, but 3 is ridiculous.

[this_ol_patriot]

Yes, I had a lot of cats too at one time most in various stages of being found homes, kittenhood from strays and our family cats that were fixed. It depends on the person I guess for some one animal is too many and for others they can have a dozen well cared for cats, dogs, ferrets, etc and you would never know it.

They tried such a limiting ordinance in a small town near me and the people yelled so much they rescinded it. You could see their reasoning even though it was flawed, the town was innudated with strays and the locals wanted something done about it, they tried to pass that ordinance but the root problem was the towns location near a highway and a good drop-off for unwanted pets rather than the local owners. That's how it should work, the local level is were it should stay if it is to be at all. The local police need to be responsive to animal complaints to avoid restrictive ordinances such as these and people need to support their animal shelters which in small towns are usually the animal officers too.

[_Jim]

As I have brought stray cats into my home,

Oh - the neighborhood cat lady.

We had one of those for awhile. All the cats she had rescured would sit on the fence between her back yard and the neighbor next door to her in the mornings ... must have been a dozen or more ...

YES - the number of animals *should* be limited - and that is on the basis of *not* creating a nuisance for the neighbors!

[Fraulein]

Yes, I saw that episode! It really was quite unbelievable. The owner of the cats did not get charged but was referred for counseling...

[potlatch]

You might be interested in MY experience with TOO many animals. See my post # 28.

[Alylonee]

I responded to that post, see #29.

[Alylonee]

I do find it funny however, that the person in question was living here on a visa, figures. That's why we should stop letting immigrants come into the nation, especially illegal ones. I'm surprised they deported her though because here in CA, nothing is done about illegal aliens. In fact, they get EVERYTHING for free.

[potlatch]

That's the problem, Alylonee, the 'good' or law abiding people get punished because of the few 'crazies' [sp?] We really went through hell for a couple years over this. I LOVE animals, but I don't think you need more than three.

I know you won't like that answer, but to really give them the love, attention and care they need, you need to limit the number. Regards, potlatch.

[potlatch]

This lady was truly 'crazy', that's why I used that word in my other post. She terrorized the neighborhood, put out poison for OUR pets, tried to run us off the road in her car, keyed a neighbors car twice, etc, etc!! The thing was, she had MONEY, and used it for lawyers every time. She threatened to sue everybody and I believe our local Police Chief and City Officials were afraid of her!!

[Alylonee]

I agree with you 100%, my one dog and two permanent cats are enough for me (the kittens I mentioned earlier that I rescued, I am finding homes for). I just don't think that it is up for the government to decide how many animals we can or cannot have. Where will they stop? Next they will be telling us what type of animals we can or cannot have... Actually, I guess they are already trying to that with Breed Specific Legislation!!! The government needs to stop imposing laws based on what they think is right or wrong. Otherwise what is the point of a "free" country?

[Alylonee]

"This lady was truly 'crazy', that's why I used that word in my other post. She terrorized the neighborhood, put out poison for OUR pets, tried to run us off the road in her car, keyed a neighbors car twice, etc, etc!! The thing was, she had MONEY, and used it for lawyers every time. She threatened to sue everybody and I believe our local Police Chief and City Officials were afraid of her!!"

It is truly a disgrace that people like that are aloud to get away with things like that. If I were you, I would probably feel the same way. Geez, where to these people come from anyway?!

[Bob J]

You can have more than three animals but then you are considered a kennel and must comply with the licensing, certification, health and zoning requirements applicable to that kind of business. These laws are enacted to insure the quiet enjoyment of all in a residential neighborhood, as well as the health, safety and comfort of the animals.

If you want to operate some kind of animal rescue operation, by all means do so. But do it legally and get the proper training.

BTW - Local governments almost never intervene in a situation such as yours unless someone complains.