Emotive forces play a large part in our lives, often trumping the “sensible.” We eat too much or the wrong foods, date the wrong people, choose careers with dim prospects, buy things we don’t need. New York City has its own brand of impractical indulgences – driving in SUVs and living with huge dogs in small apartments.

Seeing a New Yorker with a Great Dane, Mastiff, Great Pyrenees or Irish Wolfhound is not as rare an occurrence as one might expect. New Yorkers like to think big, and dogs are no exception. However, everything about these critters is big – size, weight, smell, hair, food consumed, excretions and slobbering. Many weigh more than their owners, as I imagine is the case in today’s photo. A large dog dominates an apartment space. Many describe the experience as living with a roommate.

In 2004, the New York Times ran a story, Rooming With the Big Dogs; 140-Pound City Pets and the People Who Love Them. Parts of the story were incredible, others bordering on the hysterical. The Times story tells of a married couple, Barry Kellman, his wife Shane, and their English mastiff, Brutus. During her pregnancy, Shane threw the dog out. Determined to keep him, Barry began boarding him. As costs mounted, he rented an apartment for Brutus at $1800 per month. From the article:

To meet Brutus is to appreciate the challenge of living with him. He slurps water from his bowl like a horse at a trough. He urinates with considerable force and stamina. ”This goes for about 15 minutes,” said Paul D’Amato, the doorman of his building. ”He’s a tank.”

Brutus also drools constantly: when he walks, saliva swings like a pendulum. When he shakes his head, it flies onto the walls, the front door, Mr. Kellman’s clothes (the dry cleaning bill is about $400 a month), and in places not to be believed.

”Every now and then you’ll see something hanging from the ceiling,” said Mr. Kellman. He once found it in his shoes. But Brutus’s charm is undeniable. His trusting eyes and massive head bring to mind E.T., the extra-terrestrial.

When his marriage ended, Kellman moved into Brutus’s apartment. It must be a case of love and marriage, because I just could not deal with all that Drooling and Slobbering 🙂

Related Posts: That Should Cover It, Blessing of the Animals, Water 4 Dogs, Pet Pride Parade, à la Chien, Zoomies, Robin Kovary Run for Small Dogs, Dachshund Octoberfest, Wolfdog, Dog Dating, Dog Run

On Sunday, April 17, two photographer friends and I were strolling in Washington Square Park where a man suddenly appeared with an enormous leashed iguana, which he proceeded to walk on the lawn. As we were taking photos, the owner became immediately hostile, demanding $3. We stopped. One of our group, however, pointed out that this was a public park and there were no restrictions regarding photography.

This was not my first encounter with someone who displayed exotic pets in the parks of New York City. In 2006, I featured a story and photos about a man with a small trio of exotic animals that he marketed as photo ops to passersby (see Snake Charmer here). I also once witnessed a large Albino Burmese Python, slithering along in Central Park (see here).

But I had suspicions regarding the iguana owner’s edginess – that he might have had some concern other than losing potential modeling fees for his critter. I never did investigate the laws regarding exotic pets in the city. A quick search and I learned that housing an iguana as a pet is a violation of the New York City Health Code. There is so much rumor mongering and misinformation in life, I have decided to reprint the code here in its entirety, exactly as written, directly from the New York City government website. So here, in the spirit of Everything No, is article 161.01 – Wild Animals Prohibited:

(1) All dogs other than domesticated dogs (Canis familiaris), including, but not limited to, wolf, fox, coyote, hyena, dingo, jackal, dhole, fennec, raccoon dog, zorro, bush dog, aardwolf, cape hunting dog and any hybrid offspring of a wild dog and domesticated dog.

(2) All cats other than domesticated cats (Felis catus), including, but not limited to, lion, tiger, leopard, ocelot, jaguar, puma, panther, mountain lion, cheetah, wild cat, cougar, bobcat, lynx, serval, caracal, jaguarundi, margay and any hybrid offspring of a wild cat and domesticated cat.

(3) All bears, including polar, grizzly, brown and black bear.

(4) All fur bearing mammals of the family Mustelidae, including, but not limited to, weasel, marten, mink, badger, ermine, skunk, otter, pole cat, zorille, wolverine, stoat and ferret.

(5) All Procyonidae: All raccoon (eastern, desert, ring-tailed cat), kinkajou, cacomistle, cat-bear, panda and coatimundi.

(9) All squirrels (Sciuridae).

(10) Reptiles (Reptilia). All Helodermatidae (gila monster and Mexican beaded lizard); allfront-fanged venomous snakes, even if devenomized, including, but not limited to, all Viperidae (viper, pit viper), all Elapidae (cobra, mamba, krait, coral snake), all Atractaspididae (African burrowing asp), all Hydrophiidae (sea snake), all Laticaudidae (sea krait); all venomous, mid-or rear-fanged, Duvernoy-glanded members of the family Colubridae, even if devenomized; any member, or hybrid offspring of the family Boidae, including, but not limited to, the common or green anaconda and yellow anaconda; any member of the family Pythonidae, including but not limited to the African rock python, Indian or Burmese python, Amethystine or scrub python; any member of the family Varanidae, including the white throated monitor, Bosc’s or African savannah monitor, Komodo monitor or dragon, Nile monitor, crocodile monitor, water monitor, Bornean earless monitor; any member of the family Iguanidae, including the green or common iguana; any member of the family Teiidae, including, but not limited to the golden, common, or black and white tegu; all members of the family Chelydridae, including snapping turtle and alligator snapping turtle; and all members of the order Crocodylia, including, but not limited to alligator, caiman and crocodile.

(11) Birds and Fowl (Aves): All predatory or large birds, including, but not limited to, eagle, hawk, falcon, owl, vulture, condor, emu, rhea and ostrich; roosters, geese, ducks and turkeys prohibited or otherwise regulated pursuant to § 161.19 of this Code, the Agriculture and Markets Law or applicable federal law.

(12) All venomous insects, including, but not limited to, bee, hornet and wasp.

(13) Arachnida and Chilopoda: All venomous spiders, including, but not limited to, tarantula, black widow and solifugid; scorpion; all venomous arthropods including, but not limited to, centipede.

(19) All elephants (Proboscides).

(20) All hyrax (Hydracoidea).

(21) All pangolin (Pholidota).

(22) All sloth and armadillo (Edentata).

(23) Insectivorous mammals (Insectivora): All aardvark (Tubildentata), anteater, shrew, otter shrew, gymnure, desman, tenrec, mole and hedge hog.

(24) Gliding lemur (Dermoptera).

I think that should cover it 🙂