Pet Registration

FYI - I probably depends on whether this is condo, townhome, or S.F. We purchased a condo in VA in 1989 and a few years later, the association initiated a pet registration primarily since they have keys and have rights to enter the property in an emergency (without prior notice) and/or enter the property on a non-emergency basis with notice. The obvious reason is that the Property manager wants to know about the pit bull or the skiddy kitty when they have to enter the property. The other reason was due to the fact that there is a pet weight limit of aobut 35lbs (I believe). They did this primarily due to the noise factor in these 3 level condos.

Now we live in a fee simple, townhome community with no pet registration but they have a strong policy (see below) on pets. Unfortunely, the our county animal wardens absolutely will not file charges against anyone unless they personally witness the incident. Yes, you can swear out a warrant against one of your neighbors if the officer will not prosecute, but who's going to do that?

Here's a sample clause of a resolution that addresses these issues. Confer with your attorney on drafting such a document.

1. Authority. The Association implemented Policy Resolution No. xx-xx-xx, Leash Law
Resolution, on (DATE), which permits the Animal Warden of the County to enforce County
Leash Laws and other related animal control laws on Association property. Pet restrictions under
the (Name County) County Code, Zoning Ordinance, and Animals and Fowl Ordinance (more commonly
known as the Animal Control Ordinance), are applicable to all citizens.
2. It prohibits animals from running loose on public property.
3. It requires that dogs be leashed when off of their owner’s property.
4. It prohibits animals from trespassing or damaging (soiling) another’s property.
5. Policy. It is not the policy of the Association to tell pet owners how to maintain their
pets on their personal property. Various County agencies enforce various County code
ordinances pertaining to pet ownership. However, it is the policy of the Association to regulate
dogs and cats, and consequently their owners, when they are on Association common area.
Sanitation and safety are equal priorities and will be enforced by whatever means are legally
available to the Association.
6. Responsibilities. Pet owners and their pets are welcome in the Community. With this
welcome comes a responsibility by the owners towards their pets and to the Community. Pet
owners are encouraged to obtain a copy of the County’s pamphlet “Your Pets and the Law” for
more information. Owner responsibilities include:
7. Health. The County requires rabies vaccination and licenses for all dogs, and
rabies vaccination for all cats four months of age and older.
8. Sanitation. The owner or custodian of any dog shall be responsible for the
removal of excreta deposited by such dog on their property and the property of
another, including Association property. There are six doggy bag stations in the
community for owners’ use and convenience in cleaning up after their pets.
9. Trespassing. The owner or custodian of any dog who allows their pet(s) to enter
another person’s property without permission is considered to be trespassing.
Please respect the property rights of your neighbors.
10.Pet limits. Only dogs, cats, birds, or other traditional household pets are permitted.
Wild animals are prohibited.
11. Association Responsibilities
12. The Association reserves the right to take steps to remove all loose dogs and cats
found on Association Property and turn them over to the County for disposition.
13. Any pet that disturbs the neighbors, is allowed to run freely on Association
property, is aggressive, or destructive to Association Property, is subject to
removal from the property.
14 As a matter of health and safety to all residents of the Association, any pet incident
that comes before the Board will require the owner of the pet concerned to provide
proof of County registration and rabies inoculation.

15. Penalties
16. Failure to produce appropriate health and registration documents when requested
by the Association may result in the Board exercising any or all of the following
options:
(a) Assessing a violation charge against the owner’s account after notice
and the opportunity to be heard.
(b) Barring the pet(s) from Association property.
(c) Taking legal action to enforce either or both options.
17. Documented failure of pet owners to clean up after their pet(s) may result in the
Board exercising any or all of the following options:
(a) Assessing a violation charge against the owner's account after notice
and the opportunity to be heard.
(b) Barring the pet(s) from Association property.
(c) Taking legal action to enforce either or both options.
18. Documented failure of pet owners not leashing their pet(s) on Association property
may result in the Board exercising any or all of the following options:
(a) Assessing a violation charge against the owner's account after notice
and the opportunity to be heard.
(b) Barring the pet(s) from Association property.
(c) Taking legal action to enforce either or both options.

Note: On June 30, 2006, Governor Timothy M. Kaine signed into law that owners of dangerous
dogs will face felony charges for certain dog attacks that result in serious injury. If convicted the
dogs owner can face up to five years in prison and a $2,500 fine.

Harold - Our original docs addressed this issue also, but not quite in this detail. The original builder boiler plate docs leave a lot to be desired, so our HOA attorney (part time dog catcher) drafted this revised resolution and do we have our own dog catchers? (re no 12). .. Heck no. I think that the attorney just planted that for the FEAR FACTOR. Our dogcatchers are worthless in this county and will not take action unless they actually catch the owner and/or pet in the act of violating an ordinance.

The original posting was trying to address Pet Registration, and I think that I "STRAYED" a little to far from the subject.

I will say that this clause has worked very well for us. We're in VA. The Va property association act and our documents allow us to first send a Ceast and Desist letter, and later a hearing request letter if the problem isn't corrected. The owner may be assessed up to $50 initially at the hearing and $10 per day until the problem has been corrected. We've just had to send 2 or 3 C & D letters and the problem goes away. This resolution is more bark than bite, but believe me... it works just fine.

Granted it probably won't solve Jadedone's problem with the non-resident dog-walkers. I'm curious if the areas involved are common areas or state maintained streets and sidewalks.

Take care, Harold.

Jan - I'm curious. Do you reside in a condo, Th, or S.F.?

In a condo wher "rules" can be made, possibly, but how would you enforce it? Sneak into people's units while they are not home inspecting for pets? Relying on neighbors as informants? And would you register just dogs and cats and make exceptions for birds and fish, or would you require registration for any and all "pets"?

In a townhouse or single family HOA? Forget it, you cannot regulate what goes on inside the homeowner's homes.

If there are common areas, an HOA could require pets that are brought onto those common areas to be registered with the HOA.

RonaldW, we are mix use community (single family, townhomes, and condo's), and have common areas. I know that previously there was a posting here on "cats on leashes" (which set some kind of record for most pages of responses); however, there are local ordinanaces in my area which require that dogs be properly registered (vaccinated, etc). What I was looking to do was to "amplify" the existing county regulations, within our community.

The "issue" on it's basic level is that I own a K-9 trained German Shepherd - she is great with anything with two-legs, but if you have four legs, beware. I have had to stop, no less than a dozen dogs, off leash, from becoming "chum" for her. The other issue is the waste, and owners not cleaning up after pets.

It would be my opinion that if you walk a dog on HOA common ground, then the HOA can enforce and require you to register the pet. If "fluffy" never leaves the backyard, then you may not need to register. I would be inclined to treat like an ATV (it is not to rode on HOA land, but you can still own one, and keep in garage).

That's surprisingly well written and inclusive, and appropriate for a condo or possibly even town homes, but I don't think it would fly in a community of single family detatched homes. Much as laws dealing with sexual activity in private between consenting adults, you can pass them but you can't enforce them and it can be embarassing at times to even have the laws on the books.

If a homeowner were to sneak a "non-human primate" into his or her home in the middle of the night, how would the HOA know? And if they suspected it or got a report from a neighbor, how could they prove it?

Ron, WADR, I disagree - County laws here prohibit someone from owning a pet raccoon and if you go back and read the entire pdf file, you'll see that they specifically address small animals like guinea Pigs and such. And AGAIN. This works fine in a condominium but it certainly wasn't written for a Townhome or S.F. application. When the real estate market tanked after 1989, they had a real problem with investment rental properties. Owners rented out their units (cheap) in desperation since they could not sell and they started renting 750SF condos to younger individual with Doberman's, Rotweilers, Danes, Pit Bulls, Sheppards and while I have no against any of these breeds, I submit that there is very little sound attenuation between the units and floors. Therefore it's primarily the noise and damages that they were concerned about. Then there's the damage factor - One of the foreclosures had virtually every interior door chewed to pieces by one of the big dogs. Although the homeowner docs had always had a 35 lb weight limit on dogs, one of the board presidents had gone against the Docs and gave a letter of authorization to one of her friends that was trying to rent out their condo. This letter authorized the owner to rent to a couple that had one of the huge dogs that we're talking about. Well that set a precedent and the Board's attorney said that this opened the door for everyone else to allow large dogs. It was agreed no new large dogs would be allowed and that they would grandfather the first dog and any other existing dogs; Once the dog(s) died or they moved out of the community, that would be no more large dogs. The other reason that they implemented pet registration was simply due to liability and safety. They had a bad fire in one building when someone went to work and left their drier running and this damaged 5 units. If they had known which unit had pets at the time of the fire, then they could have had the Fire Dept. make an effort to save the cats or dogs from the fire. Three are also maintenance issues where they have to enter the condo, so that don't want to have the cat run out the door and if there's a door in the unit, they want to know this before they enter. AND THAT'S WHY THEY IMPLEMENTED PET REGISTRATION IN THIS CONDO COMPLEX.

Read the entire PDF - It's not that bad and it would make a good template for anyone else trying to accomplish the same goal.