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FIne for putting up 'lost cat' posters?

post #1 of 13
1/4/11 at 8:12am
Thread Starter 
I think this is heartless behaviour - a cat owner being threatened with a fine for putting up 'lost' posters. Even if he was nailing them to trees. It is one of the first things we all tell people to do.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20110104...s-6323e80.html
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post #2 of 13
1/4/11 at 8:35am
Yeah very heartless I understand it could damage trees but even so he is trying to find his cat that he's had for a long time
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post #3 of 13
1/4/11 at 8:50am
A lot of places have ordinances against putting up fliers like that. My own town does.
A few years ago there was a film being shot in one of the towns. Aylssa Milano (iirc) and someone else were fined for going around and putting up fliers.

Ideally if you want to put them up you do it on private (non city) land/businesses with the owners permission. While it seems heartless in this case, most people are aware of these rules because in most areas they've existed for a while.
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post #4 of 13
1/4/11 at 9:06am
I do agree that it's heartless. However, speaking as an ex-Zoning Officer, the problem is that people who put up signs like that never bother to take them back down. Same with yard sale signs and such. (And while I'm the first to admit you shouldn't compare "Lost Pet" signs to yard sale signs, well, a sign is a sign is a sign. Sorry.)

That's where the trouble really begins. My job was to talk to people who put up all kinds of signs like that....they had to take them down or I would. People put signs up on utility poles, public trees, whatever they can find. They nail them fast to the poles or to the trees. And, yes, unfortunately, it is against the law. And one can be fined.

I was always more understanding about lost pet signs because I know how hard it is to have an indoor kitty or dog become lost. And I caught some flak from municipal officials because of it.

You have to realize, too, that a lot of businesses (big sign companies, for example) will look for any loophole whatsoever in a zoning ordinance. And then, if they find something, they can take the municipality to court and have the entire ordinance struck down. And believe me, it's been done. So if you do allow "Lost Pet" signs, it can be considered discrimination.

Stupid, but true. With zoning, there are few areas of grey.
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post #5 of 13
1/4/11 at 12:56pm
If I lived in an area where it was illegal, then I guess I'd make tons of flyers and hand deliver them to houses in the neighborhood.
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post #6 of 13
1/4/11 at 1:38pm
it sounds harsh but if its a law then its a law. If they said okay you can put up lost pet signs, then why should someone not be able to put up free pet signs?
And like someone else said, those signs will probably never come down! We followed signs to a yard sale this spring to find out that the signs were from MONTHS earlier! And when we told them, oh well your still have your signs up, they said oh yeah sorry. Never did bother to take them down....

There are other options besides nailing something to a pole or tree. Many businesses will allow you to hang signs on their bulletin boards or in their windows. As well as passing them out by hand.
Almost every pet store here has a huge place up front for you to hang any fliers you want that have to do with animals! And there are always people stopping to look at it.
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post #7 of 13
1/9/11 at 2:45pm
Yeah, its a sensitive issue.

But if someone is ultimately littering because they are putting up signs and not ever planning to take them back down as is usually the case, and also damaging trees by using nails, obviously you have sympathy for their situation but it is right IMO that authorities do need to say that its the wrong way to go about it.

Laws are man-made and some are just plain dumb, but I do have to agree w/ that one, but would hope they would just be very lenient with a first offense and consider the circumstances behind the motivation (putting up fliers for a lost loved pet versus commercial for example).
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post #8 of 13
2/7/11 at 10:43am
the city i live in doesnt allow "lost pet" signs on anything. its considered vandalism. i think its BS!
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post #9 of 13
2/7/11 at 2:20pm
What's wrong with lost pet posters? You see posters for yard sales all the time. Posters for free things, or selling things. You also see posters advertising businesses like mowing in the summer, plowing in the winter. Those don't seem to get taken down.
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post #10 of 13
2/7/11 at 11:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by My4LLMA View Post
What's wrong with lost pet posters? You see posters for yard sales all the time. Posters for free things, or selling things. You also see posters advertising businesses like mowing in the summer, plowing in the winter. Those don't seem to get taken down.
I'm pretty sure those are ALL illegal, but remember in this case it was being nailed to a bunch of public trees w/ is more likely to catch the attention of enforcement.

In Houston at least, the only way they can put a sign up in a pubic location is to actually pay someone to stand there with the sign.

Otherwise, they definitely wouldn't be paying the $6-7 an hour if they could just stake signs into the ground all over the place for free without a fine.
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post #11 of 13
2/8/11 at 4:07am
This makes me mad. Is it also illegal to put up signs for missing people??? If so then I guess I would understand.
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post #12 of 13
2/8/11 at 8:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Winchester View Post
I do agree that it's heartless. However, speaking as an ex-Zoning Officer, the problem is that people who put up signs like that never bother to take them back down. Same with yard sale signs and such. (And while I'm the first to admit you shouldn't compare "Lost Pet" signs to yard sale signs, well, a sign is a sign is a sign. Sorry.)
I wouldn't let them NAIL them to trees or anything, because that is dangerously close the practice of "spiking," which environmental extremists do to forests to discourage logging. Imagine a chain saw hitting that nail when the city is cutting up that tree after it falls during an ice storm or wind storm or something. A staple, on the other hand, is not such a big deal. Or tape.

The signs that get my goat are the political ones. If I ran the world, I'd have the city employees pick them all up on the day after the election and tell the candidates they can come pick them up for $5 apiece, or have a lien on their property for the amount if they don't.
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post #13 of 13
2/8/11 at 6:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ut0pia View Post
This makes me mad. Is it also illegal to put up signs for missing people??? If so then I guess I would understand.
Yes, it is illegal to put up any sign, even if it were for a missing person. The thing is, people don't put up missing person posters since there is usually a more proactive option when it comes to finding people (like going to the police). A person isn't likely to be found under someone's front porch like a cat, which is why newspapers, mail inserts, milk cartons (if you're 100 years old) and television are used when a person goes missing.
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