Animal Services

We've received complaints about pet owners allowing their animals to relieve themselves on the property and have been informed by our lawn care service that effective Jan. 1st they will charge an additional $150 per month for cleanup as their workers are not surprisingly unwilling to run their mowers over animal feces which slings it on their clothes and what not. Furthermore, not cleaning up after your pet is unsightly, unsanitary and discourteous to your neighbors and illegal in the city limits of Dallas:

Chapter 7 of the Dallas City Ordinance, Section 7-4.8 requires the owner, harborer, or a person having care, custody, or control of a dog, to remove in an immediate, and sanitary manner, any feces created by their dog on public property, or any private property not owned, leased, or controlled by them. It further requires those individuals to have in their possession a device for the safe and sanitary removal and disposal of dog feces. Violators may be reported to the City by calling 3-1-1, and they are also subject to citation and possible fine if observed by city officers at any time.

The HOA does not have the means to  police the situation so we have no choice but to access the $150 dollar fee, if charged, equally amongst the homeowners with outdoor pets. Furthermore, we spent about $2,500 dollars last year on new grass which now has dozens of dead spots, many of which can be attributed to animal urine which is almost as poisonous to plant life as Roundup. In the spring we intend on having the lawn service resod the dead spots and will also charge back that cost to homeowners who are known to allow their pets to relieve themselves on the premises.

What can you do? The obvious answer is to not allow your animal to use our property as a toilet. The only exception would be the heavily overgrown area beside the fence which separates us from Merriman Park Elementary School however, you must still use a scooper afterwards.