[GhostUser]

I got this in e-mail. Maybe someone could use it?<br><br><br><br><br><br>
Source: Humane Society<br><br>
Looking for Pet-friendly Housing?:<br><br><br><br>
Homestore.com and The Humane Society of the United States have teamed up on a Web site that lists pet-friendly apartments.<br><br><br><br>
You can access the site by visiting: <a href="http://www.springstreet.com/apartments/mme/pets/find_house.jhtml." target="_blank">http://www.springstreet.com/apartmen...d_house.jhtml.</a><br><br><br><br>
In addition, pet owners looking for new housing can find a helpful guide called, "13 Steps to Finding Pet-friendly Rental Housing" by visiting <a href="http://www.rentwithpets.org." target="_blank">www.rentwithpets.org.</a><br><br><br><br>
Here are some tips for a successful search for a new home that will accept pets:<br><br>
* Allow lots of time. Bringing along a pet involves extra considerations. Finding pet-friendly housing will probably take some extra time-plan for six months at the outside!<br><br>
* No Pets means it. If an apartment community has a no-pets policy, there's a reason for it. Why bother arguing? Concentrate on places that welcome pets.<br><br>
* Go in well-armed with references, vet records, even a pet resume-it shows you're diligent and trustworthy.<br><br>
*Tell the truth. Don't try to sneak Spot in. It's trouble for you,<br><br>
trouble for Spot, may even be illegal.<br><br>
* Get it in writing. A verbal okay is not always okay. If a landlord agrees to forego a no-pets clause, get it in writing.

 

[LadyFaile]

i dunno, up here it's not legal for a landlord to forbid pets, to a degree. if the pet isn't a nuisance, dangerous, loud and disruptive, or doing damage to the property, they can't do anything about it. 'no pets' around here just means that if you bring in a pet and they do damage to the apartment, you're responsible for fixing it, not the landlord. which i think is reasonable.<br><br>
some places don't obey all the rules though, and will turn down your application but give some other excuse. a lot of places i've tried have said "we allow small pets and cats, just no dogs cause they're noisy" and have a no pets sign on the door.<br><br>
so sometimes it's worth it to ask anyway. all of my past rentals have said no pets in bold red ink right on the lease, but the landlords said they didn't care, i've never had to hide the fact that i have a cat living with me

 

[GhostUser]

Holy cow, LadyFaile, that's amazing!<br><br>
One more reason why Canada rocks and the US sucks.<br><br>
Here, finding housing that allows *any* companion animals is hard. If you have more than 2 or a dog who weighs more than 25 lbs, it's pretty much impossible.<br><br><br><br>
Peace,<br><br>
Maggie

 

[LadyFaile]

well i should point out that most people don't know these rules exist. they see 'no pets' and assume it's going to be strictly enforced and don't bother trying. i'm not sure if it's the whole country or just ontario either though, but if you dig out the landlord-tennant act and flip through it, it's in there. they can't tell you you're not allowed to bring your pet into the home with you, it's like saying "well you can move in, but your child can't come, you'll have to get rid of it" i mean, pets are part of our families now more than ever, it's against human rights to discriminate against a tenant for living with pets.<br><br><br><br>
but that being said, some cities do set bi-laws for how many pets and what types of pets you can have in one home within city limits. London, Ontario is one of them i believe, my friend used to hide her rat and mice in the closet when her super came by cause rodents and cats were put in the same category and since she also had a cat, she had more than the legal limit <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title=""><br><br>
one cat and 4 or 5 mice and/or rats apparantly is a lot of animals, even if the mice/rats are all in one small cage. silly.<br><br><br><br>
i believe this law is there to protect the animals, because of cases of like the elderly woman who had so many cats and other animals she couldn't care for them and most of them died of contagious diseases and malnutrition. the law was clearly not well planned though

 

[GhostUser]

Yeah, often those laws backfire or do more than they intended.<br><br><br><br>
In the States, Virginia has a law against "second parent adoptions". The purpose of this law is to prohibit a same-sex partner from adopting the biological child of the other partner. (Not that I think this is a good thing - but that's not the point here.) I don't think they'd considered the impact this would also have on heterosexual couples. For example, my cousin was born about 10 months before her mother married my uncle. Her biological father relinquished his rights and my uncle legally adopted her. A few years later, they had twins together. When she was 5, her parents divorced, and when she was 6, her mother died. Had my uncle not adopted her, he would have had no right to visitation or joint custody of her, and when her mother died, he would have had no right to custody of her. So a 6-year-old would have been separated from her siblings and from the man she had called Daddy from the time she learned to talk.<br><br><br><br>
Back to the animals, I have 8 cats and frequently bring fosters through. My cats are well nourished, sterilized, healthy, happy, and loved. But objectively, it does seem like a lot of cats!<br><br><br><br>
Peace,<br><br>
Maggie

 

[LadyFaile]

well i looked up the tenant protection act for ontario and the darn site is down, but i'm gonna see if i can find info on that bi-law cause i'm curious now.

 

[LadyFaile]

ok this is messed up. <a href="http://www.city.london.on.ca/Cityhall/CorpServices/CityClerks/ByLaws/bylaws.htm" target="_blank">http://www.city.london.on.ca/Cityhal...aws/bylaws.htm</a><br><br>
click PH3 you need acrobat<br><br><br><br>
Animal - defined<br><br>
"animal" includes birds and reptiles but does not include fish or dogs.<br><br><br><br>
2.5 Class 4 animal<br><br>
"Class 4 animal" shall mean domestic cat, guinea pig, gerbil, hamster, mouse, rat, rabbit,<br><br>
chinchilla, ferret and turtle.<br><br><br><br>
i don't see dog in any of their class descriptions, i guess dogs are considered humans <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/huh.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title=""><br><br><br><br>
anyway...<br><br><br><br>
it says no more than 2 class 4 per dwelling. cause ya know, 3 hamsters might cause a domestic disturbance lmao

 

[GhostUser]

It's perfectly legal for landlords to advertise their rental units as "no pets allowed" in New Brunswick, unfortunately. In my city, it's next to impossible to find a decent apartment that allows any pets.

 

[LadyFaile]

oh it's legal in ontario to advertise it as no pets, it's jut not legal to enforce it.

 

[GhostUser]

I believe that it's legal to do either here.

 

[kpickell]

you'll generally have better luck if you look for houses for rent, or houses divided into apartments. at our shelter we keep a list of all the pet-friendly apartments. It's hard to believe that people would give up their pets so easily when they move.