Article
Courtesy of The TCPalm
By Gil
Smart
Published March 4, 2016
I have a dog. You want a dog? I have a dog.
I'm kidding. Mostly.
As my wife tries to sell our house up north, the dog has been "helping" by
periodically doing her business on the rug. Oh, and barking at all the
Realtors, potential buyers, neighbors, the mailman, other dogs, squirrels,
shadows and the wind. She's quite the guard dog, my mutt. That ends the
moment you step foot in the house, of course. Charles Manson could cross the
threshold with a large knife and she'd jump up, tail wagging. But any old
person shuffles by in the street, and she just about loses her mind.
As annoying as this all is, we love
her and we'd never dream of leaving our dog behind.
But last week I talked to Alison Reardon, of Washington,
D.C., who may have to do just that.
Reardon wants to retire to Stuart.
"I'm looking for a nice climate change," she said.
But it's a package deal: She has a 50-pound rescue dog,
Maggie. She thinks Maggie is a bearded collie, though
sometimes with rescue dogs it's hard to tell.
Whatever the breed, Maggie is "the
sweetest dog in the whole world — she doesn't even bark,"
Reardon said. |
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Treasure Coast Newspapers columnist Gil Smart's dog
Tonks.
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But bark or no bark, Reardon had discovered how hard it is to find a condo
that will accept any pet at all — let alone one that weighs 50 pounds.
Reardon's Realtor, Jeene Brown of RE/MAX of Stuart, compiled a list of 21
condominium complexes in the Stuart area. Eleven prohibit pets outright,
another permits only one cat and five limit pet ownership to one "small"
pet. Of the remaining three, two permit one pet weighing 25 pounds or less
and the other allows one 35-pound pet.
These type of restrictions are common, though they appear to be more common
in some places than others.
Bill Baysura is a Realtor with Dale Sorenson Real Estate in Vero Beach. He
counts 50 condo complexes on the barrier island that accept pets, although
"a very generous weight restriction would be 35 pounds," he said.
"Twenty-five pounds is the norm, with a maximum of one pet."
Baysura, who also works in St. Lucie County, said there can be practical
reasons for condos to limit pets.
"With high-rises, the design of the building is not conducive for pets," he
said.
Fred DeFoor is the board president for the Pierport Condominium Association
in Stuart, which prohibits pets.
"With condo living, you have a lot of sardines packed into the can," he
said. "We have a guy here who has very bad asthma problems, he's very
allergic to pets, and to live next door to a pet would be a problem."
Not everyone cleans up after his or her pet, DeFoor noted, and others have
dogs that bark incessantly.
So bottom line: If you have a pet and you want to live in one of these
communities, Fido may have to go away.
There are exceptions. Under the federal Fair Housing Act, a condo
association may be required to accommodate an "emotional support" animal,
though the association can ask for documentation — a doctor's note attesting
to the need for an animal, for example.
And some condo associations may make exceptions on a case-by-case basis,
Baysura said.
"Even if the dog doesn't make weight, (the association) may ask what breed
it is," he said. "The board may actually 'interview' the pet."
I'm wondering how that would go with my own dog.
"So, how often do you bark?"
"BARKBARKBARKBARKBARKBARK!"
"Not a chance."
Kidding aside, last year the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast recorded
350 pets surrendered by people who were moving and couldn't take the animal
along. That was 14 percent of all owner-surrendered animals.
"Fourteen percent is quite a lot," said Candice Veach, Director of Shelter
Operations.
And while not all were surrendered by retirees moving into a no-pet condo,
plenty were.
"Some people who live in restricted communities come in and socialize with
the animals," Veach said. "They love them, but they're not allowed to have
them.
"We would love if more places would allow animals. It would increase pet
adoption."
Or decrease pet surrenders.
The idea that someone like Reardon should have to surrender her beloved pet
to find housing here seems kind of ludicrous. I can understand why an
association might be wary of barky dogs like mine. And — believe me — I know
all about the mess pets can make.
But in a country where 65 percent of the population owns at least one pet,
what you wind up with is a situation where more than half of the nation can
be aced out of a certain, vital type of housing.
Reardon is considering her options: Keep looking, don't move here or ditch
the dog.
"No, I wouldn't get rid of Maggie," she said. "Everyone loves their dog.
It's just amazing how many places won't let them in."
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