18 ATTACHMENT 12 - Laserfiche WebLink

Message Page 1 of 2 ~ Natalie Amos `~) From: Donna Decker Sent: Monday, October 08, 2007 11:52 AM To: Natalie Amos Subject: FW: Please do NOT approve the "Residential Use of Trained to Kill Wild Raptors" on your consent calendar! ----- Original Message ----- From: Dan Carl To: Sent: Monday, October 08, 2007 11:29 AM Subject: Please do NOT approve the "Residential Use of Trained to Kill Wild Raptors" on your consent calendar! Dear Planning Commissioners, I understand that you will be reviewing a long standing municipal code violation with respect to keeping a captive, trained to kill wild raptor in a residential neighborhood in the Vintage Hills area in your next meeting. Just as good fences make good neighbors, good municipal code helps keep residential neighborhoods safe and presumed free from such situations. I would hope that you would not entertain modification to the municipal code to classify trained to kill raptors or other wild animals as "pets" like dogs or cats or chickens. I also understand that in this particular situation, there is an element of "hunting within city limits" as the blood-sport training and feeding of this wild raptor requires vivisection of quail, doves, bunnies, ducks and the like (as documented by the applicant in on the public record a-mails available from the City Clerks office) which raises further municipal code questions. I would also hope that any "end-around" using a CUP would not be approved - as any property owner in the area should be able to presume that their small pets and children should be safe from any potential harm that such a wild animal poses Qust search the Internet for documented attacks like the one in Great Britain on a child several years ago). Furthermore, the logistics and litigation that can arise from surrounding property owners not informing future buyers of this safety hazard /CUP during a real estate transaction could be problematic and liability could be brought back to the City. From a planning perspective, this could also open Pandora's Box allowing exotic or dangerous wild animals in all residential neighborhoods in Pleasanton. If I get a license from the State of California and the Federal Government to raise wolves or keep a mountain lion cub in my back yard, would this be allowed in a residential neighborhood and classified as a "dog" or a "cat?" Would I also be able to get a CUP? In light of your recent decision to not allow large fowl on the Hatsushi property (4.5 acres), it seems inconsistent and looks like preferential treatment is being given to a local elected official to allow a large trained to kill raptor in a residential neighborhood just several hundred yards away. Please put safety and "common sense" first and do not allow this use in a residential neighborhood via code change or CUP. If you haven't already done so, I would encourage you to watch the care and feeding of this animal live at the applicants property -inspect the premises and proximity to other houses where there could now or in the future be small children or pets - look at the safety gear the applicant must use and understand the safety risk during the 2-4 hours a day the trained to kill raptor is supposed to be exercised outside the cage. Observing avivisection/feeding session would also be insightful. Please also note that one neighbor has objected to this permitted use (as documented in the staff report), and another has been leveraged by the applicant to keep quiet due to a past property dispute over a tree (as documented in an on-the-public record a-mail available from the City Clerks office). Also note that the applicant herself stated in another public record a-mail available from the City Clerk that her raptor was NOT a fowl (although she used much more colorful language). 12/5/2007