COMMON AGREEMENT
ON PETS, FARM ANIMALS & WILD ANIMALS
 
 
Interests and Principles we are trying to serve with this policy
 
We want to live in solidarity with animal companions, both wild and domestic, in our community and on our land. We want them to be healthy, to live natural lives, to live and die in dignity. We will not tolerate cruelty to animals.
 
We agree to the possibility of keeping farm animals, and to their use for such things as milk, wool, and eggs. We will permit the slaughter of animals for meat, population control, euthanasia, or to protect farm animals from predation. However, we expect these measures to be carried out with responsibility, compassion, and skill, arising from deep relation with and respect for animals.
 
We shall strive to keep the populations of all animals on our land safely within both natural and social carrying capacities.
 
The intent of this policy is to impose management and behavioral standards that protect the safety, beauty, tranquility, sustainability, and health of the community, its neighbors and its animals. These standards will be stated in terms of expectations, rather than rules, out of respect for the relationships between individual humans and individual animals.
 
All animals impact the environment. Food and care for domestic animals require streams of food, packaging, transport, medicines and waste processing, which impact not only our own land and resources, but land and resources far away. Therefore, in keeping with our principle of sustainability, we will love animals, but bring them into our lives mindfully.
 
Definitions
 
Indoor pets ‑‑ animals (goldfish, gerbils, cats, zebras, whatever) that never leave the indoor premises of individual households.
 
Outdoor pets ‑‑ animals (cats, dogs, potbellied pigs, whatever) that spend time outside, whether free‑ranging or leashed.
 
Barnyard pets ‑‑ animals (horses, sheep, goats, emus, whatever) that require barn space, barnyard space, grazing land, or fodder (such as hay) from common land and that do not contribute directly or indirectly to the livelihood or food supply of Egrets’ Cove members.
 
Farm animals ‑‑ animals (horses, cows, sheep, goats, chickens, etc.) that require bam space, barnyard space, grazing land, or fodder from common land and that do contribute directly or indirectly to the livelihood or food supply of Egrets’ Cove members.
 
Wild animals ‑‑ animals (deer, turkeys, coyotes, foxes, woodchucks, mice, rats, songbirds) that occur naturally on the land.
 
Carrying capacity ‑‑ In a natural sense, the number of animals of each species that can thrive in a geographical community without degrading its environment. In a social sense, the number of animals that can be enjoyed and cared for by the community without inducing strife over, for example, encounters with feces, love of untrammeled garden space, personal preferences of all sorts (i.e., birdwatching vs. catwatching).
 
Our Policy
 
1.  To ease the stress of both human and animal transitions, we recommend that pets not be brought to Egrets’ Cove Community, if another good home can be found for them. Barnyard pets and farm animals may be brought to Egrets’ Cove Community only with permission of the community.
 
2.  No animals except for guide animals shall be admitted to the public areas of the common house without prior permission of the community.
 
3. Owners are strictly responsible for the good behavior of their animals and for ameliorating any damage caused by animals. Other residents are responsible for informing owners as quickly as possible about any animal‑related problem. Other residents are also responsible for keeping other animals and children from provoking or hurting animals.
 
4. Animal‑related grievances that cannot be settled quickly among some subset of community members shall be dealt with through the community's common agreement on conflict. Any animal may be subject to exclusion as determined by the consensus of the community.
 
5. Visitors who bring animals to Egrets’ Cove Community shall be expected to abide by this policy.
 
Indoor and Outdoor pets
 
6. Indoor and outdoor pets are the responsibility of the household in which they belong. Unless indoor pets cause complaint beyond the walls of their living unit, they are not the community's business. We urge all households, however, to consider the full sustainability implications of acquiring any indoor pet. (For example, the capturing of endangered species, the electricity or other forms of energy required for maintenance, the necessary food supply and where it comes from, the increased maintenance costs to the home, the disposal of wastes, etc.)
 
7. We expect cats and dogs to be neutered and vaccinated.
 
Barnyard pets and farm animals
 
8. Owners are strictly responsible for the care of barnyard pets and farm animals and jointly responsible for disposing of their wastes in an ecologically and esthetically acceptable manner.
 
9. Owners will work with Egrets’ Cove Community to come to an agreement about the allocation of fodder, grazing land, and barn space for barnyard and farm animals.
 
10. Owners will pay the community for their animals’ use of common land and facilities, either in cash or in kind, according to agreements jointly worked out with the Egrets’ Cove Community
 
11. Owners are expected to make use of grazing and hay lands in ways that maintain or increase those lands’ fertility and productivity and that protect water and wildlife resources.
 
12. Owners are responsible for fencing sufficient to contain the animals in a way that protects the animals and the community. Owners are responsible for ameliorating promptly any damage caused by these animals to buildings, fences, and land. The community is responsible for respecting fencing and gates and abiding by the animals owners' instructions with regard to keeping animals fenced and controlled.
 
Wild animals
 
13. We welcome wild animals and strive to preserve their habitats, especially in forest and wetlands. We will try to manage grazing and croplands in ways that encourage wildlife, as far as possible without threatening our crops, domestic animals, or livelihoods.
 
14. When it is necessary to protect crops, domestic animals, or built space from wild animals, we will do so as far as possible by nonviolent means (fencing, repellents, guard animals). However if necessary, and to the minimum extent necessary, we will kill wild animals in order to protect domestic animals, farm animals, buildings, people, and livelihood.
 
15. Hunting by the general public is not allowed on our property.
 
16. We will especially protect endangered species on our land, insofar as we know of them and insofar as their protection is within our power.
 
17. We will permit the use of domestic animals in the control of wild animal populations within the building and garden areas of Egrets’ Cove Community. (For example, barn cats catching mice or dogs chasing woodchucks from gardens.) But we will limit our domestic animals' interference with wild species by restricting their range and access to the wild habitats on our land, especially during seasons when their prey are bearing young.


HOME