Dog dispute spotlights law with no teeth
Thursday, November 15, 2007
By Edward Hershey The Oregonian

A dog day care has pitted neighbor against neighbor and underscored a St. Bernard-size loophole in city and county regulations.

T.J. Civis, objecting to barking and foul odors, insists the Safe Journey dog-sitting service has no business operating next door to his home in the Brooklyn neighborhood. City code, he says, is clear: Pet facilities must be "at least 25 feet from any building used or capable of being used for human habitation."

But Shawn Ryan, Safe Journey co-owner, says a city official encouraged him and Daniel Lioy to move their business to the Victorian home on Southeast Milwaukie Avenue.

Who's right? Michael Oswald, Multnomah County's director of animal services, says both have a point. "This is not the first time something like this has come up," he says. "Frankly, it's a mess."
At the root of the problem is a 1974 city-county agreement that makes the county animal services director -- Oswald -- responsible for regulating pet centers but unable to enforce Portland code.

The agreement "was written so long ago, nobody knows the logic driving it anymore," says Aaron Johnson, an aide to City Commissioner Randy Leonard. "It doesn't make sense, and it's not working."

The Brooklyn dispute follows one last year in which a Northwest neighbor complained about another dog day care, Dog Day Afternoon. The service ended up moving, leaving the regulatory Catch-22 unresolved.

"Dog Day was a piecemeal, political solution that wasn't done by the book," Johnson says. "We got together and made it happen. We need something more comprehensive to deal with these problems."

Back on Milwaukie Avenue, Civis and Ryan have traded accusations about water theft, illegal tree-cutting, stalking, excessive noise and offensive odor, leading to an order of protection against Civis (since dismissed) and mediation that produced an agreement to keep the shouts down and police out.

The trouble started after Ryan and Lioy met with Suzanne Vara, a small-business liaison with the city's Bureau of Development Services, for help expanding Safe Journey, then based at their home.

After a dozen options fizzled, Ryan says, they came upon the Brooklyn house. "She said, 'It's perfect. Grab it!' And we did." Safe Journey opened there in February.

Civis, a 50-year-old photographer, filmmaker and handyman, has lived on the property next door for 17 years.

"There can be as many as 10 or more barking dogs there at any given time," he wrote in a recent letter to neighbors, with dogs 15 feet outside his bedroom waking him as early as 6 a.m. "During the summer, I could not even leave my windows open when it was hot out because the noise and smell would be overwhelming. The smell was horrible!"

Civis' property is zoned for commercial use, but he says the code on pet centers applies regardless of zoning.

Ryan, meanwhile, calls Safe Journey a model in how it treats pets and people, keeping dogs in a family-style setting without cages, paying livable wages to staff, and "altering our business model to fit the surrounding Brooklyn community."

After conducting two neighborhood surveys, he says, he reduced drop-off and pick-up hours, and began daily round-the-block poop scooping, "even though we know little or none of it is from our dogs."

"Mr. Civis wants it both ways, to enjoy his mixed-use property as he wishes but prevent us from using ours," Ryan, 28, says. "We smell noxious fumes from his blowtorch and see piles of debris on his property. . . . But we are not complaining about him. All this activity is bringing Brooklyn alive. We're part of that, and he's part of that."

So what's next? The city and county plan to form a joint committee to come up with ideas in the coming year. Meanwhile, Johnson says, Leonard will ask the city noise-abatement officer to relieve the county of monitoring barking-dog complaints.

But Oswald isn't too hopeful. Even if the committee gives him authority to enforce city rules, he says, zoning laws often trump other city regulations.

"The bottom line," he says, "is that Mr. Civis is encountering problems that are inherent in the city code."

Portland News: 503-221-8199; portland@news.oregonian.com
©2007 The Oregonian

For more info: www.safejourneypetsitting.com
503-209-0177

Dental Tips for your Four Legged Friend

Dental care is important for humans, but it is also important for your pets. Our pets can experience tooth pain, tooth decay, bad breath and many of the same symptoms that we as humans experience all of the time. The question for most pet owners is how do we take care of our pets teeth? We don't exactly have a pet dentist that we can take our pets to that will give them a check up like we get for ourselves.

What we have to look for as pet owners in our pets teeth is signs of Gingivitis. Gingivitis is a serious mouth diease in both animals and humans. Some signs of Gingivitis are when you see reddening and swelling of the gums. Gingivitis is often caused by build up and tarter on the teeth. Gum bleeding in animals and humans is the most typical sign of Gingivitis.

There are several ways to help prevent Gingivitis in your pet. The first step is to give your pet dry pet food. Dry pet food helps to eliminate plaque and tarter by the natural chewing process of the food. Even if your pet typical eats canned foods, you can switch up between the two that will allow your pet a head start at a healthy mouth.

Water is also another great source of fluoride for your pet that can help with breaking down plaque and tarter to prevent gum diease. You can also add more benefits to your pets drinking water by adding an oral hygeine solution to their drinking water.
Beyond these simple tips, there are also other things you can purchase to help your pet keep a healthy mouth. You can by pet toothpaste and tooth brushes. It may take your pet a little while to get use to having their teeth brushed daily, however this simple technique twice a day will prove to be beneficial to your pet.

Also keep in mind that dog treats are very helpful to your pet. Please remember to stay away from pet treats that are soft and sticky because they can stay in your pets mouth for extended periods of time and cause severe damage. Make sure you pay attention to harmful ingredients such as sugar. When reading ingredients be sure that the ingredients do all they claim to do.

If you do run into a problem with your pets mouth despite all of your preventive measures, then take your pet to a veterinarian. A veterinarian can examine your pets teeth and in the worse case recommend a professinal cleaning for your pet.

For non-sedation teeth cleaning options, contact SafeJourney by visiting their website at www.safejourneypetsitting.com or visit their membership blog www.ourfourleggedfriends.com