[MR] Request of clarificaton on furry friends and events

[Marybeth Lavrakas]

Not that I'm arguing with the foolishness exhibited by some people (WHY bring a dog with hostility problems to a big event?...). But btw, when last at Sapphire with my dogs, crossing a field (all fighting was over) my dog squatted to scent mark. A group of people I didn't know, a good distance away, yelled "PICK IT UP." I should have given them the finger.

Did you ever think of getting a staff person to be 'hounds master' before you banned all because of a few? Tried having wate bags to pick up poop at trash barrels (not different from have courtesy items available in bathrooms IMO). I happen to be red cross certified in dog first aid, bet I'm not the only one in Kingdom. We could have been asked to facilitate dogs at events rather than throwing us out.

Kateryn Rous

--- On Thu, 12/3/09, Alan MacNeill <gormofberra at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Alan MacNeill <gormofberra at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [MR] Request of clarificaton on furry friends and events
> To: atlantia at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org
> Date: Thursday, December 3, 2009, 11:59 AM
> As lovely as that would be...let me
> give you my point of view as the
> Seneschal of a group that chooses to ban animals from most
> of our
> events because of previous issues...
> 
> Pets that are well behaved at home, aren't at events. 
> "She's never
> done that before" doesn't help when someone just got bit.
> 
> Owners that clean up after their pets, don't at
> events.  Once the
> guilty critter has moved on, it is very difficult to
> identify who's
> dog pooped under the troll table.
> 
> People who follow the rules and take care of their pets,
> don't at
> events.  We had an incident at Sapphire last year
> where a dog (who
> wasn't even legally on site, as it wasn't a service animal)
> was left
> in a cage in the owner's tent while they went to Court and
> after
> parties.  We found out when the dog's barking
> disturbed the next camp
> over.
> 
> People who are generally honest, aren't when it comes to
> their pets.
> That same incident, the camp in question denied the dog's
> existence,
> until directly confronted with "We know it's here, the
> option is to
> come clean, or all of you go home now"
> 
> We make it a policy to be very upfront about our
> policy.  "No animals
> allowed other than service animals" appeared in the last
> two Sapphire
> flyers, and on the webpage.  Nobody has an excuse for
> "I didn't know".
>  Yet, that card got played at least twice during the
> weekend.
> 
> So, yes, perhaps we're throwing the baby out with the
> bathwater,
> however, to be blunt, it is a case of the 10% ruining it
> for the other
> 90%, like most of the restrictive rules in the SCA are.
> 
> I hope that makes the other side of the argument more
> understandable,
> 
> Gorm of Berra
> Seneschal, Caer Mear
> 
> On Thu, Dec 3, 2009 at 11:23 AM, . . <lizmaekate at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
> > Now, of course, if the site itself bans animals, there
> is nothing that can be done.   That's up to the site.
>  However, when it's our own group banning animals, I think
> we should all strive to not create such blanket bans because
> of the problems they do cause.  If an animal misbehaves,
> blame the owner and enact some punishment on that specific
> person.
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