Metro Apartment Manager, February 2006

Q: Generally, I don’t allow pets. I did rent to someone with a seeing eye dog one time. Now I have a tenant who simply wants a cat as a “companion animal.” Do I have to do that? I’m inclined to just give her a 30-day notice and ask her to leave.

A: Coming between people — and not just tenants — and their pets is often more perilous than coming between a mother and her first born. If you allow pets, you greatly expand your universe of potential tenants. I believe, too, that good pet owners make great tenants, because it’s harder for them to move and people who take care of their pets generally take care of their home as well. I suspect, though, that roughly half of rental housing doesn’t allow pets. Some tenant advocates would like to prohibit landlords from not allowing pets. The Province of Ontario does exactly that. The City of Toronto even makes pet owners a protected class.

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