Dave and his wife live in a condo complex in Northern Virginia. They also own a dog. Now, because of new a rule by his condo association, they and anyone else who owns a dog has 30 days to provide a DNA sample of their canine companion.

According to the letter Dave received from his condo association [emphasis is ours]:

As part of the registration process, dog owners must pay a registration fee to be determined by the Board of Directors, and which may vary from time to time as necessary. The Association will use these fees to defray the costs of enforcement of this policy and the rectification of damages and wear and tear caused by dogs within the community. The Association will provide each dog owner with a kit designed for the purpose of taking a DNA sample of the dog for identification purposes. Dog owners are required to obtain and use the kit to take the DNA sample in the clubhouse in the presence of the On-Site Manager. The Association will forward those samples to a special company for storage and, if necessary, further testing.

So not only are they requiring condo owners to register their dogs. The association also doesn’t trust dog-owning residents to take the DNA sample on their own, lest you provide them with DNA from your goldfish.

Why are they doing this? The letter only says “for identification purposes,” but we’re guessing the condo association was inspired by this New Hampshire apartment complex which required doggie DNA so it could determine whose pooches were pooping in inappropriate places.

“Because some people do not clean up their dog’s mess, they now want mandatory DNA testing of all dogs,” Dave writes to Consumerist. “Failure to do DNA testing will result in the removal of your dogs. This is both disgusting and intrusive… My question to you is: can they seriously implement this and get away with it? If I was told from the start that this would be a mandatory system, I would have NEVER moved in.”

We’ve written to the management company for the condo complex to ask the specific reasons behind the DNA demand and also why the registration fee for dogs is both unspecified and variable. If they respond, we will update.

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.