Guidelines Regarding the Keeping of

Domesticated Animals on Private Homestead Lots

• If you keep any domesticated animals, you will be financially liable for any damage done by your domesticated animals on the private lots of other owners, or in the community areas. In the case of repeat offenses, the other owners may require that the offending owner permanently remove the domestic animal from their private lot. In this way we hope to dissuade irresponsible pet owners or people with small lots unrealistically purchasing unruly animals that cause a nuisance.

• Please do not keep domesticated animals that regularly create loud noises that may be a nuisance to to nearby private lots. Examples: Poorly trained dogs that bark frequently, roosters, and donkeys; this is assuming your lot is small enough that your neighbors can hear.

• Obviously, this being a community focused on veganism and reducing harm, owners should only keep animals in sanitary, humane conditions.

Negative effects you should consider when deciding to keep domestic animals:

• Unfenced or poorly-fenced chickens entering a nearby lot and scratching/destroying garden beds, young fruit trees, possibly killing fruit trees, and you being charged for it.

• Dogs and cats entering a nearby lot and digging up garden beds or recently planted fruit trees, disturbing the roots and possibly killing them

• Aggressive / poorly trained dogs biting people

• Dogs barking all day or night (a sound nuisance)

• Roosters and hens crowing all day or in the middle of the night

• Donkeys braying

• Unfenced or poorly fenced ruminant animals entering neighboring lots and trampling fruit trees or eating vegetables / fruit trees, destroying them, and you being charged for it.

• Young ruminant animals, chickens/ducks, dogs, cats getting attacked and/or eaten by jaguars, ocelots, etc.

• Dogs and cats in close contact with humans, being a vector for behavior-changing parasites such as t. gondii, or soil helminth parasites such as roundworms

• Poorly cared-for dogs transmitting botflies

• Dogs, cats, or other animals, not sterilized, and breeding uncontrollably, while being unnaturally subsidized (fed) by humans, having large amounts of offspring that are unwanted and become strays

• Unrealistic / manic people buying land here and starting “animal sanctuaries,” not realizing the massive amount of money and effort actually required, and that this is not a good environment for such an operation. Classic example of “The Dunning-Kruger effect.” Large amounts of animals acquired by emotionally unstable people (hoarding) who end up failing and needing a place to unload the animals. Or, not building proper housing/fencing/etc and the animals getting out and causing damage to nearby lots.

• Emotionally unstable people “adopting” every single stray dog or cat they find, unable to actually care for them, causing a nuisance and presence of many unhealthy stray animals in the area

• You can probably think of some more

The animals with the least negative effects we can think of are insects, ducks, fish, guinea pigs, and rabbits. Guinea pigs and rabbits both produce excellent manure and are fed mostly grass. Fish can be used in aquaculture systems to benefit from their manure.