Animal shelters are being swamped with homeless animals, mostly dogs and cats, because their human families are losing their homes and cannot find another place to live where the landlord will allow them to take their pets. This has been a problem for a very long time, but it is reaching crisis proportions now, and many innocent animal pets are losing their lives because of it. I think it is time that a campaign is organized among animal lovers and advocates to change the landlord-tenant laws in this country so that landlords cannot legally refuse to rent to (or evict) people because they have pets. (Of course, within reason. You can't take a horse to an apartment.) The reasons landlords give for prohibiting pets is the same reason they used to give for prohibiting children: they will do damage. All children were accused of plotting to draw on walls with crayons. Dogs and cats are being abandoned or surrendered because landlords claim they will damage their property. The remedy is the same as for children who end up doing some damage: deduct the cost of the damage, if any, from the damage deposit. Additional, prohibitively high pet damage deposits are no better than outright bans. Are there any others on this website who think it is time to legalize pets as members of our families that we are not expected to give up in order to be able to have shelter if we cannot afford to own, or can no longer afford to own, our own homes? I have some ideas how to accomplish changing the laws, but I am not an attorney. I wonder if there are attorneys who would be willing to fight for precedent-setting case deccisions or legislators who would be willing to sponsor bills in state legislatures.

One way to protect animal family members is to have them certified as companion or assistance animals. Landlords cannot legally prohibit animals from living with their tenants if those animals are required for the assistance or well-being of their owner. In addition to guide dogs for the blind or assistance dogs for the physically disabled, dogs and cats can serve as essential companion or assistance animals for anyone who needs them for emotional or psychological health. It is well-known, for example, that senior citizens who lose their pets when they move into apartment complexes for senior citizens (because the landlords prohibit them) often become terribly depressed and even die of broken hearts. If a social worker or psychologist or physician or other health care professional writes a letter saying that it would endanger their patient if they lost their pet, a landlord can be legally required to allow that person to keep their pet. Many people would qualify for this type of protection of their pets if they only knew about it.