I Feel Totally Discriminated Against!!

[Lady of Longbourn]

I get that there are laws.

I do think that having three dogs in one apartment is excessive. And does @FindingMyself88 share the apartment with someone else, who might also have animals? I can just see it being crowded for everyone and someone has to manage to walk those dogs a few times a day, since they have no backyard.

I understand that their are laws but I don't think the apartment owners are being unreasonable. It's their property and I can see why there is a pet/animal limit in apartments. You can go on and on about laws but the simple fact is that apartments are normally small, there are no backyards and it rests on the owner of the animals walking them and taking care of them.

 

[FindingMyself88]

@Barberian Thank you for confirming the laws I had looked up. I am new to this but have done tons of research and found the same info as you.

@Ayesha to answer some of your questions. Yes, my parents live here, but we share the 2 smaller dogs. They are chihuahua and chihuahua/yorkie mix so they are small. These dogs do get walked at least 3 times a day and the larger Service Animal would be walked even more extensively as it will go everywhere with me.

Bottom line, the apartments agreed at first but just as soon as I decided to train my own Service Animal with permission of my doctors, the apartment started putting up a fight. They are bringing up this other stuff simply to stop me from training my own dog. If I went through the program, I think I wouldn't have had a problem, but now I have been postponed to up to 3yrs by the program and simply cannot wait that long!

 

[Barberian]

I edited my post above, but want to repost it to make sure the point isn't misunderstood or missed. Being that your dog is a SDIT, ensure your state laws offer you the same protection as federal laws. Many stated offer from no legal status for SDIT's to full compliance (mirror) with the applicable federal laws.

 

[FindingMyself88]

@Barberian Yes, in the state of Alabama, A person training a Service Animal has the same access rights as a trained SD

 

[silkleaves]

I can see both sides of this...being in a situation where you have 2 emotional support dogs, but requiting a service dog as well and just wanting to be able to live in peace, and then also the position the apartment is in, to maintain standards of living for all who live there and concern for the care of their property.

Personally though, I would move. Mostly though because I would feel bad to have so many animals in an apartment space. I understand the financials may be restricting this, but I would feel too guilty. Then again, I had to give up two very loved dogs (to good families at least!) but I still feel guilty about that, even though that was 12 years ago, I keep saying "when I get a bigger place, when Im more settled down, when I have more money" and only now finally relenting to the idea that I can get one. But I still feel guilty, so theres a lot of bias on my end, in that I wouldnt be able to not feel bad for my dogs for keeping them all in an apartment.

 

[FindingMyself88]

@silkleaves I can understand that side too. We are wanting to move if they do not allow the SD. As far as the dogs in apartment, its perfect size for my 2 chihuahuas. Honestly I try to take them for walks, and they don't walk long. They love inside more than outside. This is also why I backed off from getting a larger breed like a German Shepherd (well one of the reasons). I want to get a breed that is comfortable living inside with walks and trips to dog parks as exercise but yet big enough to do what I need it to do. Also considering this dog will be a SD, it will go EVERYWHERE with me. I go to parks almost daily anyways by myself, I love being outside. So it is not like the dog would be kept locked inside all the time, neither are my other two..

 

[silkleaves]

Oh I can see that... I like and prefer big dogs. Tiny dogs make me anxious just looking at them lol either they are all wiry and all over the place, or just stand there shivering at you. Freaks me out hahah! oh boy. My place has a 30lb size limit, and I really wonder what sort of dog I can get at that size. At the same time, I know my place isnt big enough for anything any bigger...even though they just lounge around at home, they still need space.

The two dogs I had were a husky and a dalmatian... I'm 5'10"...I have shoes bigger than some chihuahuas lol So yeah, there are so many factors that come into play when making choices like this. I hope that things work out for the best

 

[FindingMyself88]

I love any dog honestly. Our smaller dogs think they own the place lol. Our place is a 40lb limit, so really if I end up getting Bristol, the boxer/lab mix, she will only be 5-10lbs over the limit. I would not go with a dog smaller than her though for what I need. We will be staying in my hometown for the summer until things get straightened out at apartment and she has come a long way in training.

The Humane Society I am going to next week with my trainer friend has several puppies ranging from 7 weeks to 8 months that I am going to look at. All around 50-65lbs when full grown. I would love to get a puppy around 3-5 months old so we could begin obedience training. However, if I got the 7 week old pup, I could fully train and start desensitizing the pup early…

 

[anthony]

As to the housing unit requiring the exact medical condition that qualifies her for a service dog, here in America the laws about medical privacy are very strong. they can not ask what her medical condition is for a service dog, but CAN ask for an emotional support animal.

Are you saying that an emotional service dog is not considered a pet in the US? It seems there are two different laws for a disability service dog vs an emotional service animal?

FM88, if you have two emotional service dogs (two emotional support animals), then from what @Barberian posted, they can ask about your condition according to law, they just wrap that question in your current pets. So is the next dog an actual disabled service dog, or an emotional service dog?

 

[FindingMyself88]

Service dogs are not considered pets, but Emotional Support animals are. From what I've read they cannot ask for your direct disability, but it has to be a psychiatric one to need an ESA and you must have a letter from your psychiatrist. The next dog will be an actual Service dog that will have complete public access and go everywhere with me once trained.

 

[anthony]

Thanks. This does become all very confusing between distinctions, emotional support animal vs. disability service animal.

I do wonder though... what does your apartment rules state? I ask because you said they even have a pound limit for an animal, so do they say two dogs, or two pets, or such in a specific manner? I guess this is something even body corporates have to contend with nowadays... how they write their rules to adequately distinguish between pets versus service animal.

 

[FindingMyself88]

@anthony Your welcome, it does get confusing if you aren't use to all the different terms.

This is why I need to find our copy of the lease. Like I said, I was in the hospital when my parents signed it and they obviously didn't read it all the way through… I swear I am more of the grown up than them! Either way though, the dog I train to be a Service Animal will not be considered a pet. I'm pretty sure the lease would say pet, because they classify Cats as well. It says pets in the letters they have sent me too.