Solutions to a Housing Crisis: Dogs & Cats Edition

Post date: 2018-12-18 10:01:42

My town has an epidemic of renters forced to choose between their pets and a roof over their heads. How can I help?

I live in a small town that, like many places, is experiencing a housing crisis (not enough units, too many vacation rentals, all that jazz). Of those monthly rentals that are available, the vast majority have strict "no pet" policies, to the degree that our local animal shelter has set up a special room for people who cannot find pet-friendly housing to say goodbye to their animals. Ugh, right?? I'm not surprised by this, as when my parents advertised a vacancy in their rental last year, we got dozens of emails from desperate pet owners trying to find a place. My parents did end up accepting tenants with pets, but it broke my heart that they had to turn away so many others.

I'd like to try to do something about this. Right now, I'm wondering about the feasibility of setting up some kind of nonprofit organization that works with tenants and landlords to create more pet-friendly housing in our community. Maybe we raise funds and offer "grants" that will serve as damage deposits for tenants with pets, thereby giving landlords some peace of mind about having animals in their rental units. Maybe we also help tenants create "résumés" for their pets that can help assure landlords that the animals are well-behaved and up-to-date on their shots. Or maybe we do something else entirely? I'm not really sure where to start. We are a small rural town, but we also have quite a few wealthy (and even famous) part-time residents that might be willing to back this if we could get something down on paper and off the ground.

Does your community have any sort of organization like this, or do you know of one that does? Are there other solutions to this problem that I'm not aware of? Obviously supporting the animal shelter with donations and volunteers is critical, but the ultimate goal is to prevent owners from having to surrender their animals to the shelter in the first place. Resources, ideas, books, articles, or whatever on this topic would be much appreciated. Thank you!

Please click Here to read the full story.