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08 September 2006

I'm angry, upset, and I need my friends [More:]I get home today to find a letter from management of the park we live in. (Background-manufactured homes). It's a letter saying we have to get rid of our dog. It's worded as if it's being sent to more than just us, but I have my doubts. The park manager spoke to me more than a month ago, and brought up our dog's heritage. We got her from the pound as a puppy, a mixed breed. The letter states no "pit bulls or pit bull mixes, or American or English bull dogs". If it "looks like a pit,or barks like a pit, it must be treated as such". It went on to mention "complaints by other park residents" blah blah blah.
I am so angry I can't type straight. Our dog is a mutt, part shepard, and, admittedly, possibly part pit. She is never out of the house except to do her business, and then always on a leash with us. This feels like persecution to me. Part of the lease also states that no dog over 50 pounds is allowed, but they are all around me! And the manager even told me over a month ago that shepards aren't allowed, but he let some guy move in with a shepard, because the dog is 15 years old. But I'm expected to get rid of a dog I've had for three years immediatly?
Persecution in the fact that he made me get rid of my pool (inflatable, three ring stlye rectangular pool) although I've used the same type for three years. (other people had purchased those round pools where the top inflates and it rises as the pool fills with water, with a filter. That I knew was banned). Then I get a notice that I'm not picking up after my dog. (We keep plastic baggies by the door to use as we walk her. I started taking pictures of all the other dog owners I see walking their dogs in the same area and not picking up)
Then he mentioned we had garbage near our garbage cans. I had just, really, just that day before! put out my daughter's old bed as she got one from my mom when she moved to Seattle. The manager even sent me a letter reminding me to get rid of the garbage, two weeks after it was already gone!
So now I have to get rid of my dog, and to be honest, she's not in the best of health, and she can be agressive to strangers, so it may be best to put her down. But be assured, no one else here will be allowed to have dogs over 50 pounds, either, or I will sue for some sort of discrimination.
How do I explain this to the kids? My kids already had to face this once, when their dad was evicted from his house and got rid of the dogs they loved. I'm so mad I think I could burst blood vessels in my face! Sorry this is so long, but I have to deal with neighbors who set off fireworks, let their dog bark at 4 in the morning, have a 15 year old who smokes pot and drives, and across from the managers house is a house where they do drug deals!!! (there's a reason for "trailer park" sterotypes).
Thank you all for listening, I really needed to vent.
Wow...I don't have any advice but I'll offer my support and send some happy thoughts. I hope this gets resolved in a positive manner. It sounds like the manager is power-tripping.
posted by LunaticFringe 08 September | 12:21
Damn. Just from what you've said it sounds like he's zeroed in on your family and is just looking for things to nitpick about. Are you friends with any of the neighbors? I'd ask around and see if anyone else is getting harassed. I'm sorry to hear about this - how crappy.
posted by iconomy 08 September | 12:29
That's just awful, redvixen! Ugh... I assume moving isn't an option, or it sounds like you'd have done it already.

Do you rent your home, or just the lot? Either way, is there anything in your lease about dog breeds? If not, I'd stand my ground. If there is, I'd ask your vet if your dog could be classified as a pit bull or not- "some" ancestry is probably not enough to legally define the dog as that.

On the weight issue, stand your ground there, too, unless you see it being enforced with neighhbors who have 50+ lb. dogs, also. Google for your state and the term "renter's rights"... there's a lot of good info out there that people don't know about, and it should apply even if you are only renting the land and not the home.

posted by BoringPostcards 08 September | 12:29
This all sounds most unfortunate. Id there someone above him that you can write to?

I'm so sorry this is happening.
posted by Specklet 08 September | 12:30
I'm so sorry, redvixen. That sounds awful.

I can't believe, though, that just making you put your dog down can be totally legal. I hope that you can find some sort of tenant's rights group to help you out.
posted by occhiblu 08 September | 12:49
I'm so sorry. I don't have any advice, I wish I did. I don't know what to say except that this sucks and I hope you can find a solution that doesn't involve getting rid of your dog.
posted by essexjan 08 September | 13:14
My best wishes for an amicable resolution are sent your way.
posted by getoffmylawn 08 September | 13:21
If the management is really gunning for you, then euthanizing your dog is only going to put off the inevitable. Maybe you have resources available to you that you haven't thought of yet. Can somebody care for the dog while you try to find a new place to live?

Gah. Landlords suck.
posted by Skwirl 08 September | 13:26
Thank you all so much!! I felt so much better after venting.
Update: My husband went down to talk to the manager today. He was calm, approached it as if he were on the manager's side, and spoke rationally. (I don't think I could. I'm hot-tempered)
Anyway, he said we had no problem getting rid of the dog if we had to, but if we had to, then everyone else had to adhere to the wording of the lease, too. Then he showed the manager the paper we'd been given by the pound, which simply states that she is a shepard MIX, true parentage unknown. And he brought up the fact that we feel as if we're being persecuted and singled out, and he made a mention of being Jewish, and not standing for any persecution, etc. And the manager said he too was Jewish, and as far as he's concerned, the matter is now dropped. He thanked my husband for speaking to him like an equal and not like an idiot.
Whew!!!!! Thank you for all your warm thoughts and wishes, I really, really appreciate it.

(to answer some of the above questions: we own the house but rent the land. home prices have gotten unreal even for manufactured houses in Jersey, and we actually like where we live. For the first time, we are (knock wood) financially stable, but it's always a shaky ladder these days.
But SOMEDAY we will have our own "real" home and land of our own. Preferably with distance between us and our neighbors. :^)
posted by redvixen 08 September | 18:15
Glad it worked out for you, redvixen! Your husband sounds like a wise man.
posted by jrossi4r 08 September | 18:31
Yay! This is all very good.
posted by Specklet 08 September | 18:45
Glad it worked out. I can't imagine how stressful it must have been for you.
posted by essexjan 09 September | 02:33
That's so great, redvixen... Big props to your husband for being so levelheaded and effective - what a hero!
posted by taz 09 September | 05:00
Geez Red that really sucks. The weight limit rule on dogs is stupid. I've seen PLENTY of 20 pounders that yap constantly. are agressive and snap at people and other dogs, and pee mark territory indoors and out. Weight does not predict or preclude bad behavior in dogs.

That being said, maybe you could get the pooch a certificate as a good canine citizen and tell them all to shove it up their ass.
posted by chewatadistance 09 September | 17:10
on preview - glad it worked out!
posted by chewatadistance 09 September | 17:11
Where do you fall on the Kinsey Scale? || Bunny! OMG!

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