HOA wants me to get rid of my little dog

[peppylady]

What is the name of your state? Florida

I have a little Dachsund.I raised him from a pup he is 7 years old. We have sooooo many cats roaming free in our Community that if I open my door my dog will run out if he smells the cats. I can't catch him and sometimes he out running for 30 mins or so.The other day I received a letter from the HOA attorney that I have 15 days to get RID of my dog because he is a nuiscance. If I don't get rid of him the letter said the HOA will pursue a Petition for Arbitration. I don't know what to do. I've complained about the cats for almost 10 years. Theyare all over the place. Please help me. Can they really demand I get of my best friend? I love my dog so much and I couldn't live without him. Oh, by the way I own two condos here that they don't seem to care. What shouuld I do I am scared.

[IndianaOwner]

First, get more info on how they determined that your dog is a nuisance. I doubt this is the first time there has been issues regarding your little dog. I am betting that he do-do'd in a neighbors yard and they didn't like it. They need to have concrete examples.

Second, you can abate the alleged nuisance short of getting rid of your dog. Such as always have it on a leash.

Third, yes they may be able to make you get rid of your dog, but I doubt they will or can in the end.

[nextwife]

First, as a pet owner, I really must say that allowing your dog to bolt out the door frequently is highly irresponsible. There are many ways to protect against this problem- which is very dangerous for the dog and a nuisance for others. You SHOULD have put controls in place that would have prevented the problem.

A. You could keep your "little dog" behind a pet gate, so that they CANNOT bolt when the door is open. Example: [url]http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=14993&cm_mmc=PPC-_-Google-_-Pet%20Gates-_-pet%20gate&ref=3334&Ntt=gates&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&subref=AK&Np=1&N=2001&Nty=1[/url]

B. You could have kept a leash by the door, and leashed the dog before even opening your door so that they cannot flee.

Obviously, you have allowed this unleashed exiting from your unit to happen repeatedly. Maybe, just maybe, if you offer a reliable way of preventing ANY further incidents, and are willing to put up a cash forfeiture, they MAY be willing to consider allowing a trial period with your steps in place to prevent recurrance.

[BelizeBreeze]

If the court can order a couple who owns a condo in a HOA to smoke outdoors of their OWN unit, it certainly find your little furball a nusiance and order it gone or find you liable to the HOA.

[peppylady]

Thank you Next Wife just put a pet gate up a week or two ago. Got it at Montgomery Wards. I couldn't find a gate that would close up a 60 inch doorway. I can't believe a HOA could make an owner smoke outside their unit. I don't smoke put the people do all around and I don't even smell it.

[gawm]

Thank you Next Wife just put a pet gate up a week or two ago. Got it at Montgomery Wards.

How did you do that?
Montgomery Wards went out of business years ago.

[BelizeBreeze]

Originally Posted by gawm

How did you do that?
Montgomery Wards went out of business years ago.

want to bet?
[url]http://www.wards.com/wards/default.asp?pp=yes&partner=51&placeID=5100004[/url]

[gawm]

I see. It's an online store now.

[BelizeBreeze]

common misconception. MG went bankrupt, NOT out of business.

[nextwife]

LOTS of currently viable businesses went bankrupt.

It's only some of their unpaid CREDITORS that are now out of business!

[nextwife]

Originally Posted by peppylady

Thank you Next Wife just put a pet gate up a week or two ago. Got it at Montgomery Wards. I couldn't find a gate that would close up a 60 inch doorway. I can't believe a HOA could make an owner smoke outside their unit. I don't smoke put the people do all around and I don't even smell it.

Actually, there are many extended pet gates available online. I just found this one, for example, and it does not require ANY mounting:

[url]http://www.shop.com/op/~Extra_Wide_Free_Standing_Pet_Gate-prod-28745552-37725432?sourceid=298[/url]

Here's a whole bunch of very wide gates:

[url]http://www.nowsafe.net/mounted_gates.htm[/url]

My Google search brought up the following "hits" for an extended pet gate:

[url]http://www.google.com/search?q=pet+gates+extended&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial[/url]

Results 1 - 10 of about 1,070,000 for pet gates extended. (0.10 seconds)

[peppylady]

yes Montgomery Wards is an online store now. A little more expensive then the store was but the gate is nice made of wood looks good with my furniture too. Look I have an attorney \right now for this dog thing. I love my dog and won't give him up. My HOA has no backbone. They let people in who are not screened, etc. But they can pick on a widow and her little dog. Well I have a kick ass attn. who will take care of them.
Thanks guys for your help. That smoking thing really gets me though. They have no right to tell people to smoke outside their units.