How many pets can I have?

The covenants do not give a number. Freeman Township effectively does.

**What the covenants say.** Household pets — dogs, cats and similar — may be kept, provided they are not kept, bred or maintained for any commercial purpose. No number is stated.

**Where the number comes from.** The Township's zoning ordinance provides that any person or household owning, harbouring or keeping **four (4) or more dogs**, for pleasure or profit, is deemed to operate a **dog kennel**. Its definition of kennel is broader still: any premises where more than three dogs and/or other domesticated animals six months or older are kept, permanently or temporarily.

**And kennels are not permitted here.** The ordinance states that no kennel shall be permitted within one hundred (100) feet of any Residential District. The Lake of the Pines subdivisions sit in that district, so the practical effect is that a kennel is not available as an option.

**So the working answer is three dogs.** At four you are in kennel territory, which requires Planning Commission approval and a Clare County Animal Control licence — and cannot be sited here in any event.

**Other rules that apply to pets.** Michigan Dog Law is in effect in Clare County, so pets must be on a leash of no more than 6 feet and under your immediate control, not left unattended, not running loose, not noisy, and you must clean up after them.

If you are close to these numbers, speak with the Township Zoning Administrator.

*Source: Restrictive Covenants, Article VII, Section 2; Freeman Township Zoning Ordinance No. 8, Section 4.31 and Article II.*