Ithaca Conference	Venue	Listserv	Results	Agenda	Sponsor: Toughpups.com
Main Theme: Dog-Friendliness	Rate your community!		Dog-Friends.org
e-Conference Results	Visit Ithaca	Ithaca4Dogs	Ithaca Dog Park	TCDOG

Help us develop a tool that will allow dog people everywhere to rate their communities, and to develop action plans that will make a difference. Answer the questions in this draft questionnaire, and tell us how you think it could be improved. Results will be posted as they come in.

Community Dog-Friendliness Assessment

Name: City, State/Province: E-mail Address:

PART ONE. Maximum =15 Points. Interpersonal factors.

I.1. Is there a dog owners group in your community? No = O points If yes, is the dog owners group active and effective? Assign a point value: 1-5; not active =1, extremely active= 5. 0 1 2 3 4 5

I.2. Do you have friends who are willing to dog sit, pinch-walk, search for lost dogs, and give moral and practical support? No = O points If yes, how confident do you feel of getting the help you need? Assign a point value: 1-5; just a little =1, extremely =5. 0 1 2 3 4 5

I.3. When you walk your dog on the streets of your community, do people react negatively or positively to your dog? Assign a point value (0 to 5: overwhelmingly negative = 0 points, overwhelmingly positive = 5 points. 0 1 2 3 4 5

II. Maximum = 20 Points. Commercial factors.

II.1. Does your community have veterinary services? No = O points If yes, are you satisfied with these service? Assign a point value (1-5), taking into account ease of getting an appointment, emergency hours, technical competence, customer service, location, and pricing; not at all satisfied = 1 point, extremely satisfied = 5 points. 0 1 2 3 4 5

II.2. Does your community have sufficient dog day-care, kennels, spas, and pet supply shops? Assign a point value (0-5) to your level of satisfaction with these commercial facilities, taking into account customer service, location, range of services, competence, and pricing; not at all satisfied = 0 points, extremely satisfied = 5 points 0 1 2 3 4 5

II.3. Does your community have sufficient accommodations, restaurants and other basic facilities for people accompanied by dogs? Assign a point value (1-5)to your level of satisfaction with these facilities, taking into account diversity, location, surcharges, and proportional availability; Not at all = 0 point, extremely satisfied = 5 points 0 1 2 3 4 5

II.4. How difficult is it to find rental housing that accepts dogs? Do most places that accept dogs charge an unreasonable non-refundable deposit? Assign a point value (0-5) to the dog-friendliness of rental housing in your community: virtually no landlords accept dogs, and the few that do charge high non-refundable deposits = O; virtually all landlords accept dogs, and very few charge non-refundable deposits = 5. 0 1 2 3 4 5

III. Maximum = 30 Points. Access to public spaces and facilities.

III.1. Does your community have adequate opportunities for off-leash recreation? Assign a point value (0-15), taking into account size, density many per square mile or per dog-owner, size, design, landscape, security, and fees; no off-leash areas at all = 0 points; extremely equitable allocation of resources = 15 points. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

III.2. Are there important public outdoor spaces (such as the downtown commercial district, parks, shore-side esplanades) that are arbitrarily closed to dogs, even on leash? Or are dog-accompanied people allowed equitable access to all public outdoor spaces except those with specific health, safety, and conservation constraints? Assign a point value (0-15), taking into the extent to which you feel inconvenienced and discriminated against, or accommodated and welcomed (e.g. with poop-bag dispensers, water bowl, hitching facilities); unfair = 0 points, extremely equitable = 15 points 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Part IV. Maximum = 35 Points. Public policy.

Check the appropriate boxes to add 5 points for any that apply: IV.1. Special municipal programs to recognize the importance of dogs in the community IV.2. Public school programs to inculcate respect and affection for pets, as well as responsible pet ownership IV.3. Absence of breed-specific legislation IV.4. A municipal ordinance against continuous tethering and confining of dogs IV.5. Public art and public events recognizing dogs IV.6. A dog-friendly evacuation plan IV.7. No-kill (or close to it) shelter, and fostering program

Comments: Thank you for participating in this survey. We will send you an email confirming your responses and notifying you as to when and where tallied results are posted.

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