Multiple Pet Permits and buying a house

[js]

My question is based on the following: “Multiple Animal Site Permit. No person shall operate a multiple-animal site without a valid permit. A person may obtain a permit after satisfactorily passing a pre-permit inspection, payment of the appropriate permit fee, and proof of business registration, if applicable. The operator shall post the permit in a conspicuous place on the premises.”

My question is regarding the posting the permit on the premises. Is this to alert neighbors of the proposal and allow them time to argue against the permit? Seems like there could be potential pitfalls since you have to get a new permit every year. How would this effect potential home buyers looking to move to the area?

Obviously it wouldn’t be a feasible to buy the house first only to find out later that your permit was declined; however, it seems equally impossible to try to buy a house contingent on getting a multiple animal permit, because the house must be inspected etc. Seems you would be committed to put money on the house in escrow that you could potentially loose (which I realize can happen anyway).

[cnvh]

What kind of animals are we talking? Does that mean housepets, or livestock?? I’ve heard of jurisdictions placing zoning limits on the number of horses or other grazing livestock per acre, but “multiple animal site permit” is news to me.

[js]

It applies to household pets - cats and dogs. Oddly enough this town/county doesn’t have much laws regarding livestock. They allow livestock in the city limits and I can’t say there is much control on that from what I’ve seen.

It was news to me to regarding the multiple animal site permit!

[trubandloki]

That just seems strange. What do they mean by multiple? More than one? Or is this a permit if you want to have 10 cats and seven dogs?

[cnvh]

I can see needing a permit if you were running some kind of kennel, breeding for profit, whatever… But for your standard “1 or 2 dogs and 1 or 2 housecats,” they actually require a PERMIT? Crazy.

[js]

They have a limit of 5 pets can be a combination of cats and/or dogs, if you are over that amount you must be permitted, with a permit you can have up to 15. That requires inspection of the place where you will keep the pets, adequate space per pet, kept inside or in approved pens etc. plus posting of the request for permit in a conspicuous place on the premises.

http://www.apnm.org/images/document.pdf Article III address some of it but doesn’t say how many

http://ecode360.com/30047445 This addresses it in more detail.

I get the premise behind it but seems like a potential disaster for someone wanting to move there, doesn’t stop the irresponsible pet owners and they still have shelters full of unwanted pets.

Oddly enough they just passed an law that allows you to maintain a feral cat colony in the city limits. That seems contrary to restricting the homeowner from having multiple pets.

[js]

They have a limit of 5 pets can be a combination of cats and/or dogs, if you are over that amount you must be permitted, with a permit you can have up to 15. That requires inspection of the place where you will keep the pets, adequate space per pet, etc. plus posting of the request for permit in a conspicuous place on the premises.

http://www.apnm.org/images/document.pdf Article III address some of it but doesn’t say how many

http://ecode360.com/30047445 This addresses it in more detail.

I get the premise behind it but seems like a potential disaster, probably doesn’t stop the irresponsible pet owners and they still have shelters full of unwanted pets.
Oddly enough they just passed an law that allows you to maintain a feral cat colony in the city limits. That seems contrary to restricting the homeowner from having multiple pets.

[Where_sMyWhite]

All I gotta say is that would be enough for me to seriously consider not moving to that county… unless there was absolutely no other choice.

[js]

[QUOTE=Where’sMyWhite;8729092]
All I gotta say is that would be enough for me to seriously consider not moving to that county… unless there was absolutely no other choice.[/QUOTE]

Since your location shows desert SouthWest what state are you in? I’m from NM originally, we were looking to move back there. We have family in Dona Ana county, so it was where we were looking to go but now obviously rethinking that. It seemed El Paso, TX had similar laws, though I don’t know if they applied to outside city limits.

[S1969]

[QUOTE=js;8728842]
My question is based on the following: “Multiple Animal Site Permit. No person shall operate a multiple-animal site without a valid permit. A person may obtain a permit after satisfactorily passing a pre-permit inspection, payment of the appropriate permit fee, and proof of business registration, if applicable. The operator shall post the permit in a conspicuous place on the premises.”

My question is regarding the posting the permit on the premises. Is this to alert neighbors of the proposal and allow them time to argue against the permit? Seems like there could be potential pitfalls since you have to get a new permit every year. How would this effect potential home buyers looking to move to the area?

Obviously it wouldn’t be a feasible to buy the house first only to find out later that your permit was declined; however, it seems equally impossible to try to buy a house contingent on getting a multiple animal permit, because the house must be inspected etc. Seems you would be committed to put money on the house in escrow that you could potentially loose (which I realize can happen anyway).[/QUOTE]

How do they define “operator?” That’s a strange term to call a homeowner. I think this sounds like it applies to business owners.

[js]

There are places it says business if applicable, I read that as business (say breeder) or homeowner.

[rockonxox]

Our city requires the same… to be honest I didn’t follow this and had 3 dogs for 3 years. Last year they upped the limit to 3 so now I’m legal again We also have livestock ordinances including a chicken ordinance. Honestly, most people don’t even look at what the city limits/laws are. Unless you are obviously running a business out of your home or can’t take care of your animals you likely won’t get in trouble for it.

[JanM]

I used to live in that county. While I lived there they had multiple instances of people who were animal hoarders, and it was horrible for the poor animals. They also had a local pet store chain with a large scale, pet mill breeding operation going on. It’s a kennel license, and the yearly inspection wasn’t always enforced when I lived there. At that time the city limit was three dogs, and you had to get the permit, but the inspection was to be sure you didn’t have 30 animals, or something similar. The posting requirement is so neighbors don’t constantly call about the number of animals you have.

[js]

I get the premise of why they have a law like that but they sure make it sound like its enforced. Personally I would have no issue complying just sounds a bit intimidating.

[jetsmom]

[QUOTE=js;8729124]
Since your location shows desert SouthWest what state are you in? I’m from NM originally, we were looking to move back there. We have family in Dona Ana county, so it was where we were looking to go but now obviously rethinking that. It seemed El Paso, TX had similar laws, though I don’t know if they applied to outside city limits.[/QUOTE]
They don’t apply the pet limit outside of el paso city limits.

[js]

Thank you jetsmom for that info as we were considering El Paso as an alternative.

[microbovine]

Do you actually have more than 5 cats and dogs? Do you need a breeder permit? I am very unfamiliar with these types of laws, but if you are in California, I can see why you would be concerned. There are some strange laws there and any minor difference with a neighbor could lead to someone reporting you.

[js]

yes, we have 13 cats and 1 dog. Not a breeder just someone that has taken in all the cats that have been dumped at our farm. All fixed and indoor, thankfully we have a big house and a large pet safe fence in the backyard so everyone has lots of room.

One of the reasons I’d like to move from here, the never ending supply of dumped cats!

[candyappy]

[QUOTE=js;8729497]
yes, we have 13 cats and 1 dog. Not a breeder just someone that has taken in all the cats that have been dumped at our farm. All fixed and indoor, thankfully we have a big house and a large pet safe fence in the backyard so everyone has lots of room.

One of the reasons I’d like to move from here, the never ending supply of dumped cats![/QUOTE]

If I lived in the city and my neighbor had 13 indoor cats I would be very concerned . My husbands grandparents had neighbors who had a ton of cats and the smell was unbelievable.

[JanM]

When I lived in Cruces I knew one man who had a dog and a cat. Both had been tossed over his back fence. Those animals definitely upgraded their homes, but I hope the people that dumped them burn in hell.

If you want outdoor time, but in a safe manner, a friend’s son had a huge yard, and house. He built a big chain link ‘room’ complete with roof, off the walk out basement. The cats could go out the window from the basement, had a reclaimed river tree to climb on, and could go inside whenever they wanted too. It also had a sun fabric roof, over the chain link, but I bet you could put either a solid roof over the chain link (so no one can escape under the roof edge), or a canvas or sun blocking material. The only goof was he didn’t put a human gate in, so when he went in there to clean, or put more toys, he had to crawl out the basement window. Depending on what part of Dona Ana, you could have roaming stray dogs or cats, or coyotes, so your cats would be safe, but still have outside time.

A friend lived outside Dona Ana a long time ago (I lived there from 1986-1996), and his subdivision had nice, big houses, on about 3 - 5 acres lots, so something like that would give you privacy, lots of room, but still be close to town. A lot of people from WSMR lived out there, and commuted. The multiple animal permits are to ensure that you take care of the animals properly, and shouldn’t be a problem. I knew several people with the 3 animal or more permits when I lived there, and they never had an issue. The AC people called for an appointment, to make sure when you would be home, so it usually isn’t a surprise visit.

My friend that lived in Dona Ana like the rural tone of the subdivision, and every now and then he’d see a neighboring farmer’s escaped cow ambling down the road.