I have seen similar discussions on other sites so there must be interest out there. We personally would love to have an opportunity to live in a pet free village. Barking dogs can absolutely ruin your enjoyment of your home and neighborhood. We came here from a neighborhood that had a number of dogs that would start barking the moment their owners left the house and could go for hours. Two of them barked constantly at us every time we sat on our back porch even if the owners were home. They apparently weren’t bothered enough about it to address the problem. It was a key reason for us moving.
Dogs using our yard as a latrine is a less serious problem but my husband does have to pick up a pile or two sometimes before he can mow the lawn, which just shouldn’t be.
As far as pets in restaurants and stores, living in a pet free village would not be an answer to that anyway. That’s a societal thing and in no way unique to The Villages.
We used to travel extensively in our RV and if we had an option of a pet free park, especially for longer stays, we would usually take advantage of it. There are so many people who travel with dogs and then leave them locked up in an RV all day while they sight see and it’s not hard to guess what some of the dogs choose to do with their time……bark.
We do not dislike dogs per se. We always had them when our daughter was young because she was such an animal lover. And it’s usually not the dogs fault that they are a problem, it’s irresponsible owners who do not train them properly and do not control them so that they aren’t a nuisance to others. It’s our experience with those dogs that has soured us on dogs in general so that we have chosen not to own them and are not interested in having our lives impacted by people who do. Bottom line, someone else’s choice to own a dog shouldn’t become our problem or have a negative impact on our life as we choose not to have them for a reason.
So, yes, if there was a pet free village being offered we would absolutely be on board to buy there and I have talked to others who have expressed the same to me. I don’t think they’d have any problem selling those houses. I agree that there might be a premium for them.
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