Town May Force Child With Cerebral Palsy to Give Up His Pony

[Haellan]

Town May Force Child With Cerebral Palsy to Give Up His Pony

http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=229843
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Disabled boy's smelly pony has to go

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/...3-f11260b8772c

Canwest News Service

Thursday, November 27, 2008

A small Ontario town may force a three-year-old boy with cerebral palsy to give up his miniature pony after a neighbour complained about the smell.

Sam Spiteri's grandfather gave him the pony, Emily, after the child was diagnosed with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, shortly after birth. The boy can't walk or crawl, and Emily is part of his therapy regime.

"When we take him off the pony he cries," his mother, Antonia Spiteri, said Wednesday.

But at the end of July, the town of Caledon notified the Spiteris the pony had to be removed due to the complaints. Caledon bylaw enforcement manager Glenn Blakely said the Spiteri's 0.4-hectare property is zoned as rural residential and is too small for a miniature pony.

© The Calgary Herald 2008

[Arianwen]

Good grief.

[Mousehound]

You would think they would find a way to make everyone happy in a situation like this, a little give and take.

[stephanie]

The mother of the disabled child who may lose his miniature pony -- his only means of moving independently -- because his neighbours (who live next to a cow farm) complained about the smell -- has established a PayPal account to fund the legal work of keeping the pony. That address: antoniaspiteri82@hotmail.com .

She has had numerous Caledon businesses ask if they can post a petition for her, has received a number of offers from local stables who would like to house Emily the pony for her, and is constantly fielding calls and letters from people who would like to meet and lend support to Sam and Emily. "One thing we are considering is planning some sort of meet and greet," said Spiteri. "We have had so many people ask to meet with us, that we want to plan a day where people can visit our property and meet Sam and Emily themselves, see where we house her, and the situation we're in."
According to Spiteri, the Town informed her that the next available committee date will be November 12. Until then, she will work on finishing all of her paperwork, and raising the funds needed for the application. Spiteri said she needs to pay a fee of $800 for the application.

[Potemkin]

HMM, PR campaign in process.

That isn't a "miniature pony". This is a miniature therapy pony.



With that said, miniature horses and asses don't have to be smelly. The smell comes from the horse poop.

Clean up, scoop up and there isn't a problem.

Here is my guess. The parents brought in the horse. Probably no one objected.

However, the people taking care of this miniature horse tried to turn the suburban lot in to a rural farm. (Tossing the manure in a pile and letting it do its thing.)

I am sure the neighbors loved that. If the owner would have been responsible and had the stuff trucked away there wouldn't have been a problem I would guess. Sure, it would have been more expensive to truck the stuff away but it isn't a farm, is it?

You also wonder if they discussed the issue with the neighbors BEFORE they brought the horse home. Probably not.

I know me and my neighbors get together several times and discuss things which might cause problems and come to an agreement.

"Do you might if I park my motorhome in the driveway for a week? We have company coming over and need the sleeping room."

"I am thinking about cutting down that tree which looks weak and is on our common property. Do you have a problem with that?"

Etc., etc.

If they would have gone to the neighbors and said "We think our handicapped child would benefit from a therapy pony. We have a large lot and will truck off the poop and keep them stabled most of the time. We will also put in proper fencing. Do you have a problem?"

What ogre would say no to that? (They may want a trial run however.)

They could have said "The neighbors agreed to it before we brought it in".

Now the child is attached and they are in a jam trying to use the court of public sympathy to get their way.

[Fiddlerdave]

However, the people taking care of this miniature horse tried to turn the suburban lot in to a rural farm. (Tossing the manure in a pile and letting it do its thing.)

Now the child is attached and they are in a jam trying to use the court of public sympathy to get their way

I thought you were a "libertarian", Pot. Where is this family's "freedom to use their property as they wish"? Maybe using the court of public opinion is the only recourse to get consideration from laws intended to prevent entire farms from being operated in the neighborhood. Sometimes it is the only force for humane action from people.

.4 of a hectare is one acre. That is a bit larger than an "urban lot". I speak from experience of a neighbor raising dogs and having a full sized horse on his one acre lot next to my one acre lot that the smell was very transitory, and certainly less than the weeks after when I put manure on my garden beds.

And some good sized dogs will make as much fragrant output as a pony that size. Not to mention cows reside in the area.

[Potemkin]

Originally Posted by Fiddlerdave

I thought you were a "libertarian", Pot. Where is this family's "freedom to use their property as they wish"? Maybe using the court of public opinion is the only recourse to get consideration from laws intended to prevent entire farms from being operated in the neighborhood. Sometimes it is the only force for humane action from people.

Yanking the old chain, hey Dave?

These laws and use provisions do NOT go against Libertarianism unless they were implemented AFTER they had purchased the property.

This is why you don't see real Libertarians get worked up over them along with Homeowner's Associations.

Real Libertarians know that they are a contractual agreements between the purchasers and the sellers. If you buy property and know they exists then you have no recourse.

Faux Libertarians and people who want to yank chains frequently mix them up.

If this family had a let to stand on they wouldn't have to use the court of public opinion and using their handicapped child as a tool to get their way.

Or, were you thinking of Anarchism? People without education on Libertarianism frequently get them confused.

[Ought Six]

P:

"Or, were you thinking of Anarchism? People without education on Libertarianism frequently get them confused."

.... and some people who know the difference full well purposely confuse the two in order to try and create false arguments.

[Haellan]

I say they kick the neighbor out and make more room for the pony.

[Ben Franklin]

Potemkin, are you the president of a Home Owner's Association?

There may be a zoning problem, but it's fairly routine to get variances. If they need to cart the horseshit to a farm, just tell them it's required for the variance.

[Potemkin]

Originally Posted by Ben Franklin

Potemkin, are you the president of a Home Owner's Association?

There may be a zoning problem, but it's fairly routine to get variances. If they need to cart the horseshit to a farm, just tell them it's required for the variance.

President? No. I am a member of an HOA.

As a Libertarian I made a conscious decision to buy a home in one and enter into a contractual relationship with one.

To your point, depending on the HOA the Architectural Committee grants variances all the time.

But to my earlier point, this family could have saved themselves a lot of problems if they would have approached their neighbors (and HOA) FIRST, discussed the issue and performed any pro forma process.

Set the right way and with their neighbors approval, they likely would have gotten a rubber stamp on a variance for the miniature horse and everything would have been cool. Build in some steps to assure the neighbors it wasn't going to be a problem, manure removal and a trial period, and they would have probably been on your side.

I probably would have offered a horse "open house" for all the neighbors to see how the child responds to the "therapy". Why not pony rides for the smaller neighbor children to get the parent on board?

From the neighborhood dynamics here is probably what happened. The grandfather thought it would be cool to buy the child a pony. Parent like the idea and thought it would be good therapy. They brought it to the property. They probably had the attitude "eff the neighbors" and "no one will take a pony from a handicapped child". (Although they may have not thought that consciously. )

The sh*tstorm erupted. Now, the HOA and the neighbors have to make a point. The family decides they want to break the the rules of the HOA and go to the court of public opinion.

Now, everyone is entrenched. They family will never get their variance.

All because someone didn't go talk to the neighbors and get them on board.

[flourbug]

Pote, my sister has the exact same condition - spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy. Only, she is 50 years older than the child in question. I have also had horses, and ponies, most of my life. Usually 3 or 4 at a time as I did quite a bit of trail riding with my three daughters when they were children.

I am sure the parents mean well and want to give their child a full life experience. But PLEASE, trade the pony for a PlayStation.

There is no way I would strap a child, who cannot move his limbs or sit up, onto the back of ANY animal, no matter how gentle. Look at the "special" saddle he has - a straight back and nice big straps to hold him on. I have been on horses that slipped on the ice and rolled over, with me still on their back. Imagine what would happen to that child if the horse bolted and fell. He cannot even lift his hand to protect his face. I doubt Mom could hold on to a pony, mini or not. Secondly, people with this condition suffer an extremely high rate of scoliosis. They do not have the muscle strength in their trunk to hold their body upright. They slump, and twist, and their spine grows like a giant twisted S unless they are firmly strapped into a chair that supports their back. Like, this:



As a child, my sister was not allowed on swings, mechanical rides, or horses. Still, the medical profession did not know then what they know now, and simply sitting in a chair caused scoliosis similar to this:



The solution is to cut along the spine from neck to coccyx, and fuse metal rods to keep the spine straight. My sister spent six months in the hospital recovering from that surgery.

My parents spent HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of dollars on my sister, when doctors and nurses and therapists told them this or that MIGHT be good for her. $30,000 patterning therapies, $8,000 standing boxes, $11,000 slant tables, $26,000 wheelchairs. It is BRAIN DAMAGE. That part of the brain is dead. It is not going to work, no matter what you strap her into. But there's no shortage of people who are willing to play on the parents misery and part them from their money for a device that offers HOPE.

As a once a year treat, putting Jr on the back of a pony and walking around a ring will give him a thrill and won't hurt him... but a special saddle and backyard convenience is something I think they will live to regret.