Hello again,
Alright, I promised a follow up! The POLL RESULTS are as follows:
How many dogs should you be allowed to keep in your home?
53% say that you should be allowed to have FOUR dogs
38% say TWO
7% say that you should be allowed to keep as many as you like
The truth of the matter is that you are only allowed to have two dogs on your property unless you are a breeder residing on agricultural property. If you want more then you have to apply at your local municipality. This applies to your local vet nurse, adoption agency or dog breeder too. This has, apparently, been the law for quite some time, but as a result of the barking dog fiasco, it is going to start getting enforced.
Upset residents who are disturbed by barking dogs say that the lack of regulation as to the number of dogs kept on a residential property is the direct cause of their worries. Adoption agencies are pro this law because it is going to save a lot of animals that are otherwise neglected. In this light, the law makes complete sense.
Of course it is when you consider that there are mean neighbours out there that might report your little yapping sausage dog that everything falls out of perspective. It really boils down to this law having a postive side and a negative side.
There are a number of processes set in place that these doggy police will go through when your dog is reported (to protect you against those nasty neighbours), but it seems that a lot of dog owners are going to be slapped with a hefty fine. This can be up to R20,000! Not the kind of pocket change that a lot of us have lying around.
A lot of people are suggesting that you take your yapping dog to your local vet nurse for a special no-bark procedure, but I can think of nothing worse! Of course, if it a choice between no barking or no living, there's not much to say.
Please send me your comments!
