Ok. So my mother in law told me she is getting me a puppy for Christmas. I have been DYING for a puppy for years! Her daughter just found a seller with baby pitbull pups, and I guess my mother in law already put down a deposit for the puppy for when it’s ready to be picked up... My contract states you can’t have a dog over 40lbs, and can’t be an aggressive breed though so I’m kind of stuck. My mother in law was unaware of the restriction, and no way am I turning down a baby pitbull pup!!
My plan is to get an ESA (emotional support animal) letter do my landlord can’t technically say no, but I love my landlord and don’t want to get on her bad side. She’s a cute little old lady, and the best landlord I’ve ever had so I need advice on how to tell her! I already have 2 cats that she’s aware of, but contract also states 2 pet limit...I can’t really hide a dog from them because ewe will have to take it outside a lot, and even though my landlord is never around I’m sure our lovely neighbors that we adore oh so much will tattle on us
Any advice??
Answers & Comments
Looks like she got the puppy anyways. I'll be looking forward to her question in the "Legal" section, asking how to fight her eviction.
An Emotional Support Animal under the Americans with Disabilities Act has to 1. Provide you a service to help you with your 2. Diagnosed disability. So first, you have to have some disability that has been diagnosed. Second, the animal has to provide you a service related to your diagnosis. In other words, it has to be trained in some way. Just having a dog so you can hug when you get upset is not enough. So you might find that does not hold water. You need to stick with the contract and make sure the dog is under 40 pounds full grown and not of a breed that is considered aggressive. A pitbull is considered an aggressive breed.. Obviously all of this can be debated. Do you really have a disability? Does the dog really provide a service? A pitbulls really an aggressive breed? The real problem is you have two pets already and that is all you can have according to your lease. That can not be debated. Two is two. Get rid of a cat if you want a dog.
Very tactfully indeed
You shouldn't be getting a letter from your doctor if you really don't have any health issues. That is faking an ESA which is wrong. You are doing it for all the wrong reasons. And yes your landlord can still DENY the dog if it makes the homeowners insurance go up. Also if you really did have a health issues that your doctor feels an ESA would beneficial then you'd have to fill out a reasonable accommodation form with your landlord and that can take a long time.
If you get the pit & intend on keeping it, you will have to move. Pits are can weigh as little as 60 lbs but then it may top out at 80. You never know what you are going to get when you buy a pit.
Plus, the apartment may allow pets, you have reached your limit, set for a reason.
The pit it on top of the most dangerous breeds.
Everything about getting this puppy is wrong. You cannot have a pit bull. & since your apartment allows pets, you do not need a letter for an ESA. You are already allowed to have pets so this letter from a Psychiatrist cannot help you. You do not understand how it works. An ESA is JUST a Pet. & the letter is only needed if your Psychiatrist thinks a dog would help you with your mental problems.
Right now you cannot have any more pets. You already have 2 cats. & you can't have a pit puppy for sure beyond a shadow of doubt. No. Not now & hopefully never a pit.
Rehome one of the cats. I couldn't do that either. So right now you have reached your limit. NO puppy now.
Tell her you're getting an ESA dog.
As a landlord. I would evict you for violation of your lease . Clearly you can not count pass two. Second an ESA does not protect you for keeping a puppy. Third most cities do not allow aggressive breeds.
Why do people feel the need of an emotional support animal. Just to play the system. Sad that people like you makes people that needs Real Support animals suffer.
Simply getting a letter does NOT mean that your "landlord cant say no". You have to go to your landlord and request REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION to have a dog first. Some landlords are exempt from fair housing laws. Because pit bulls may cause him to loose his property insurance or face an increase in insurance.. He CAN indeed say "no"... It would NOT be deemed "reasonable" for him to loose insurance or pay more for insurance just to allow a pit bull.
You need to find a breed that fits his restrictions. He is already reasonable by allowing pets to begin with.
An ESA letter also DOES NOT give you a pass to keep more pets. Your CATS can be ESAs
Wow are you immature. ESA's are just PETS. You're not disabled nor does your life depend on this dog being with you at all times. You're also picking a pit bull which surely is NOT allowed where you live.
Just how much of an entitled, selfish idiot are you? Stop trying to abuse the Americans with Disabilities Act and grow the F up.
ESAs are only allowed (in *some* housing)as a reasonable accommodation for the DISABLED, and aren't an excuse to evade pet rules in a rental. Are you disabled? You don't "tell" a landlord you're getting an ESA, you request permission as a reasonable accommodation for your disability (and good luck explaining why the two cats you already have cannot fill that role!). Additionally, landlords CAN apply breed, size, and age restrictions to ESAs, especially when those restrictions are placed by their insurance company, which they nearly always are They have no special training, so you do not need a specific animal to fulfill the role. Your landlord could also decide to place restrictions disallowing one of your pet cats for exceeding your pet limit, because that's what an ESA is. A pit bull, which are specifically bred for aggression towards other animals, is also an absolutely stupid choice for a household with cats.
Ultimately, you turn down the dog, or move somewhere that allows it.