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CSI Del Boca Vista: Condo HOAs Demand Canine DNA Samples to Identify Dog Crap
Surely, there should come a time during your tenure as a member of your condo's Homeowners Association when you think to yourself: Do I really want to be the guy requiring all of my neighbors to submit samples of their dog's crap so that we can DNA test it and identify people who do not clean up after their pets? Is that the direction I want to go in my life, the legacy I wish to leave behind?
Yes, we live in a "CSI" world now, where it is technically possible to figure out which pile of dog crap belongs to which canine residing in a condo. Even so, that does not mean dog crap-identification measures are the way to go for the residents of Del Boca Vista Phase III or whatever condo you may live in. And yet more and more, we are seeing HOA leaders demanding doggie-DNA samples from their (former) friends and neighbors living in their condos.
Last year in New Hampshire, the apartment manager at "Timberwood Commons" purchased a commercial DNA sampling kit and asked dog owners to submit a "cheek swab" for their pet. This was all a setup for the next step: picking up renegade piles of dog crap, matching it with the DNA on file, and issuing HOA fines against the owners of the canines.
The Consumerist reports that last month in a Northern Virginia condo complex, residents received a letter telling them they had 30 days to provide a DNA sample of their dog via a special kit provided by the HOA. Oh, and don't even think that you are going to outsmart the braintrust at this Northern Virginia condo by providing DNA from another dog or from a neighborhood squirrel or what have you because the letter specified that "Dog owners are required to obtain and use the kit to take the DNA sample in the clubhouse in the presence of the On-Site Manager."
The tactics of this HOA predictably were not appreciated by many of the residents, who called it "both disgusting and intrusive." One resident stated that "If I was told from the start that this would be a mandatory system, I would have NEVER moved in." In an update posted Monday on The Consumerist, one of the residents of this condo named Dave says he and his neighbors have tried to fight back by posting signs alerting residents to the issue and planning to attend the next HOA meeting. The HOA, however, took down their signs and reportedly canceled the next meeting.
In addition to objecting to the plan in general, Dave also wants to know the answers to more complex dog crap-identification questions such as "What happens if a vindictive neighbor pulls your dog's poo from the trash and puts it out to get you in trouble?" or "What happens if someone else leaves their dog's mess out there and my dog marks his territory on the offending poop?"
Posted by Bruce Carton on April 10, 2012 at 04:28 PM | Permalink
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