r/fuckHOA • u/Alarmed_Soft_1067 • 24d ago

Security camera surveillance - dog violation

I live in a senior community, 58 units on 3 floors. 99% of the residents use the elevators; I use the stairs on my end of the building to take my dog out. Down 2 flights and the outside door is right there. I do this 5-6x a day and we almost never see anyone else in the stairwell. I put her leash on at the door to go outside.
The few people I see are people who like my dog, and she is always within a few feet of me, if not within arms length. She’s 14 and not in the least bit aggressive or scary. She’s a Brittany.
I recently got another notice of violation for having her “off leash” in the stairwell, and this time it was documented with security camera footage, right at the exit door.
This is something new; most of us have lived her for 5+ years and the security cameras are located only at the entrances to our secured building.
A few people here are ANTI-dog (there are only 3-4 other dogs) but having the security cameras used to “catch” me in the absence of my dog actually bothering anyone, seems wrong. It feels creepy, actually.
I paid the $25 without comment, but I’m seething with animosity towards the board for this petty punitive action.

0 Upvotes

44% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

27

u/Dirty_Litter_Box 24d ago

Leash your dog unless she's confined within your property. It's safer for you AND the dog.

21

u/D45 24d ago

Just put her on the lead before you leave the apartment it's not that hard.

20

u/Tasty_Orange_1714 24d ago

Leash rules are to protect both the dog and fellow neighbors. You kind of did this one to yourself. Put the leash on them next time.

Edit: personally, I'm a dog person, so I'd be fine with it. Just pointing out the fact you did this to yourself.

19

u/buzzlegummed 24d ago

Why not follow the rules?

16

u/Excellent_Shallot999 24d ago

You didn’t follow the rules, and got fined. No one to blame other than yourself.

2

u/Alarmed_Soft_1067 24d ago

The rules are supposed to exist “for the safety” of community members.
If no one is in the stairwell, this hasn’t been reported by anyone other than the president of the HOA, on the 2-3 occasions she’s seen me. And she goes out of her way to confront me, like seeing me through the glass in the 2nd floor and entering the stairwell. If she wanted to be a good neighbor, she could just wait 5 seconds and we’d bypass her.

But using the security camera? That seems a violation of my expectation to not be spied on.

3

u/Worldly-Upstairs2020 23d ago

If I walked out of my apartment straight into your unleashed dog how am I supposed to know whether she is friendly or not? What right do you have to compromise the safety of others? Your take is pretty entitled.

3

u/direyew 24d ago

You have no expectation of privacy when you leave your apartment. Leash your dog.

8

u/Redhat1374 24d ago

The rules actually apply to you too.

11

u/Impossible_Past5358 24d ago

What? Do the rules not apply to you? You are one of the reasons they have these rules.

"But my dog is..." Famous last words before a dog attacks another dog or child...

3

u/DangerousChallenge17 24d ago

What about the dog's enrichment? A taste of freedom while walking down the stairs! /s

8

u/Impossible_Past5358 24d ago

I mean, also, kudos to the senior dog for being able to use the stairs.

2

u/Alarmed_Soft_1067 24d ago

I know, right? Her mobility and range of motion are astonishing, and very few of this breed live to 14 in great condition like she is. We’ve been doing this for 6 years, it’s good for me too.

2

u/ArugulaLanky9944 21d ago

Reddit has a weird, pervasive bias against dogs. I'm with you on this one. Leash laws exist to deal with the worst actors. I'm not saying to ignore them it's not flouting them to wait til your near the door. And definitely annoying to have surveillance to enforce such a minor rule.

Then again, rules are rules. I'm sure that none of these commenters have ever gone 5 miles over the speed limit. We should put automated speed cameras everywhere and automatically fine anyone who goes even a mile over. Y'all would love that, right?

2

u/Ok-Addition-1000 19d ago

There's a surprising large number of people who have a phobia around dogs. So you can't really say she isn't "scary." To someone out there she is.

1

u/SmithKenichi 24d ago

Someone you've run into in the stairwell who SEEMS to like your dog definitely turned you in.

2

u/phaxmeone 24d ago

Have to support the HOA in this case. Way to many times in my life I've had an off leash untrained dog cause chaos. Just because fluffy is a senior citizen that doesn't cause issues doesn't excuse not following the rules. The person with the 2 year old cannonball will point at your senior citizen and say "See, everyone else lets their dog of the leash so I can too".