Woah might have to give up my cat!

hunnysuckle · Jul 11, 2008

Hi all!

I'm visually impaired and have decided to get a guide dog well I went down to my apartments office and asked them how that would effect me having my kitty and she told me If i got a guide dog I'd have to get rid of my cat! Can they even DO that? Our lease does say we can only have one pet but a guide dog is technically not a pet but a tool for travel unless off harness.

I'd hate to get rid of her but a Guide dog would be very benefical to me.

mbjerkness · Jul 11, 2008

I have always thought that a guide dog is not considered a pet. I would mention that to your landlord. See if that makes a difference.

trillcat · Jul 11, 2008

Wow, your landlord sounds like a real sweetheart! Jeeze!
I have no idea if they can ask this of you, but I don't think helper animals are considere pets, per say.
Regardless, this person(s) need a good boot to the behind!

kluchetta · Jul 11, 2008

I don't know a lot about the LAW, but a guide dog is NOT considered a pet AFAIK. I wonder if the ACLU has a local office or something that could help you?

laureen227 · Jul 11, 2008

Originally Posted by kluchetta

I don't know a lot about the LAW, but a guide dog is NOT considered a pet AFAIK. I wonder if the ACLU has a local office or something that could help you?

give the ACLU something useful to do! a guide dog is not a pet - it is a service animal. here are some links that might help...
U S Laws
guide to disability rights
overview of the ADA
field service areas

buzbyjlc10 · Jul 11, 2008

It shouldn't count as a pet... in college the only "pets" we were allowed in the dorms were fish (shh, I had fish, hermit crabs and for a semester and a half the cat

oh and at one point also a bearded dragon) but a girl in my dorm one year was training a guide dog (sweet yellow lab) and she lived in the dorm with the girl

Have you contacted the guide dog agency yet? You should tell them what your landlord said, I'm sure they've encountered this type of thing before and know the laws that surround the topic. I would really fight it personally - my pets are a part of my family and I couldn't give them up... to kind of generalize, the landlord would be saying the same thing as "oh if you want a wheelchair cuz you're disabled, your cat has to go" ya know what I'm getting at? You wouldn't be getting the dog as just another pet, it is an assistant to help you live a better life.... I mean guide animals are allowed lots of places that "pets" are not, because they're not pets, they're necessities.

kluchetta · Jul 11, 2008

Originally Posted by laureen227

give the ACLU something useful to do! a guide dog is not a pet - it is a service animal. here are some links that might help...
U S Laws
guide to disability rights
overview of the ADA
field service areas

LOL, I was trying to remember the name of the ACLU...I asked my hubby, "what is the name of that annoying legal organization that doesn't want people to be able to say the Pledge of Allegiance?"

Sorry, hope I didn't offend anyone.

natalie_ca · Jul 12, 2008

So far as I know a guidedog is not considered a "pet", they are working animals and as such they are allowed on buses, in restaurants, basically wherever an animal wouldn't normally be allowed.

larussa · Jul 12, 2008

If your landlord will not allow both dog and cat, see a lawyer.

deedeemay · Jul 12, 2008

I agree with the others, a guide dog is not a pet, but an essential part of your life and will help you live normally. You should be allowed to keep both IMO.

carolpetunia · Jul 12, 2008

The principle above is clearly valid: a guide dog is not a pet, but an extension of yourself, essential to your safety and comfort. But if that doesn't convince your landlord to back off of his ridiculous stance, try this:

Ask him to imagine how the community is going to respond when the local newspaper or TV station does a story on the blind person whose landlord won't let her have the security and assistance of a guide dog unless she first gives up her beloved cat!

His phone will never stop ringing with angry complaints from the public... and he would very likely also hear from the ACLU and any disabled assistance programs in the area, as well. And what if he forced you to take it to a court of law? Would he really want to sit across the aisle from a disabled person and wax self-righteous about depriving her of her cat?

Just mention the media. If he has one iota of common sense, he will instantly drop the whole issue.

sakura · Jul 12, 2008

I agree, a guide dog isn't a pet. Mention the Americans with Disabilities Act and hiring an attorney. That might be enough to scare him. I really do think you'd have a claim, but that's just my baby-almost-lawyer's opinion. I remember that issue coming up in my landlord tenant law class.

You don't need a lawyer right away, try talking to them about how service animals don't count as pets. Even no-pet communities have to allow service animals usually because they have to make reasonable accommodations for your disability.

I wouldn't make claims about calling the media or anything just yet, because you want to stay as friendly as possible.

http://www.ada.gov/

Check http://www.martindale.com for a landlord-tenant attorney in your area. I would also check any local law school legal clinics or places like that. Legal fees can be expensive, you have to keep that in mind.

flisssweetpea · Jul 12, 2008

Sounds like you've had some really good advice here, not being in the US I can't offer any practical help myself, just plenty of vibes that you manage to get a good solution to this. Hopefully, you, kitty and guide dog will all be living in the same apartment. I'm sending loads of vibes for you

ldg · Jul 12, 2008

You've already gotten great advice. I doubt it'll even get as far as needing a lawyer - but there is no question that legally you will NOT have to give up your cat. The law is on your side on this one - the only question is how to communicate it to your landlord - who is a jerk, BTW. I'd start by calling the ACLU for assistance. But this is clearly covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Hope he won't make you go through too much - but you do NOT have to give up your cat! You are NOT adopting a dog as a pet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Laurie

wingss2fly · Jul 12, 2008

Originally Posted by kluchetta

LOL, I was trying to remember the name of the ACLU...I asked my hubby, "what is the name of that annoying legal organization that doesn't want people to be able to say the Pledge of Allegiance?"

Sorry, hope I didn't offend anyone.

HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAA

No problems here
K.

carolpetunia · Jul 12, 2008

Originally Posted by Sakura

I wouldn't make claims about calling the media or anything just yet, because you want to stay as friendly as possible.

She's absolutely right! The media are a second-to-last resort, right before the lawyer.

carolpetunia · Jul 12, 2008

Originally Posted by kluchetta

LOL, I was trying to remember the name of the ACLU...I asked my hubby, "what is the name of that annoying legal organization that doesn't want people to be able to say the Pledge of Allegiance?"

Sorry, hope I didn't offend anyone.

No offense! I sometimes take exception to the ACLU's positions, too -- but in the interest of fairness, it's not that they don't want you to be ABLE to say the Pledge... they just don't want you to be REQUIRED to.

Which, when you think about it, makes sense. In a free country, taking the pledge has to be voluntary, or it's meaningless, y'know?

laureen227 · Jul 12, 2008

Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

No offense! I sometimes take exception to the ACLU's positions, too -- but in the interest of fairness, it's not that they don't want you to be ABLE to say the Pledge... they just don't want you to be REQUIRED to.

Which, when you think about it, makes sense. In a free country, taking the pledge has to be voluntary, or it's meaningless, y'know?

at our school, students are not required to say the pledge - they are required to stand & show respect for those who do want to say it, tho.

butzie · Jul 12, 2008

I agree that a guide dog is not a pet but your best friend who watches out for you. There are signs in our supermarkets and restaurants that say no dogs except for seeing eye dogs. Notice that they do not say anything about no cats. That to me says that seeing eye dogs are not perceived as pets but as a very valuable ally for their caretaker. Cats, of course, have us for pets.

Maybe you should show all these posts to your landlord.

lore · Jul 12, 2008

Sounds like you've gotten alot of great advise.

Keep us updated on the matter

Woah might have to give up my cat!

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