Unfortunately it’s unadulterated cowardice on the part of the HSUS and local SPCA groups. They don’t want to confront landlords who have political/economic power, so they put the burden on the powerless.

To get anything other than cats and small dogs into housing that way, you also have to mandate a change to insurance company policies. Speaking as a landlord who IS a responsible dog owner, and whose insurance company is graciously indifferent to the presence of dogs weighing twenty pounds or less.

Had a lovely prospective tenant last year, who would have had her daughter’s lovely, sweet, well-behaved Siberian husky three days out of seven. I wanted so bad to rent to her…

I proposed not long ago, half seriously and half joking, that instead of working so freaking hard on legally mandating sterilization of people’s pets, they instead started mandating that landlords and HOAs could no longer ban pets.

THAT would empty the shelters, and reduce intake, faster and to a greater degree than forcing the small percentage of people in this country who still have intact animals to alter them.

Of course, laws to force me to alter my pets against my will and without regard for my ownership of them, or my wishes about my own animals, or the fact that they are living creatures who could potentially be harmed by this forced surgery don’t seem to bother anyone half as much as the idea of telling a landlord or HOA what they can do with their property.

And yet — soiled carpet can be replaced. Chewed up doorjambs, the same.

This country has its head up its butt about this issue.

If folks have already reached that saturation point, they won’t keep the dog. If we can get the to ask for help and have them see that there are options other than giving up their pet before they hit that stage, it would make a great difference I think.

This “foreclosure pet upswell” has got to end. Why are we re-homing the dogs of a responsible dog owner? How can we change the laws (dog has to get a Canine Good Citizen certificate or something, cats should just be allowed) so that responsible pet owners CAN TAKE THEIR PETS WITH THEM?

How do we encourage not only responsible pet ownership, but LANDLORDS that reward responsible pet ownership, whether that be government transitional housing OR private landlords?

Christie — did anyone at the conference talk about how we encourage landlords to allow pet ownership?

As long as we’re changing the world, let’s change the rental landscape so that responsible people can keep their pets.

What’s ironic is that EVERYONE says “It won’t work here” at first. Then they do it.

And then someone else says, well, it worked there but it won’t work here!

Until it does.

In some ways I believe this dedicated veterinarian. I know she wants what I do. The difference is that I have faith that it can be done. She doesn’t.

We just voted for a $600 MM ballpark. Imagine the good that could do for the public life of a city that loves its dogs as much as any does. What it takes is commitment—and faith, of course.