ReportWire

Tag: pet owner

  • Bill to make more rentals pet friendly would put an end to ‘no dogs allowed,’ lawmaker says

    Bill to make more rentals pet friendly would put an end to ‘no dogs allowed,’ lawmaker says

    [ad_1]

    All dogs may go to heaven, but California landlords aren’t as accommodating.

    Pet owners can have a tougher time finding apartments because of the surfeit of landlords who don’t allow dogs, cats or other animals in their buildings. A new bill, however, seeks to open more apartments to renters with pets.

    The legislation, in fact, would allow landlords to ask about pet ownership only after a tenant’s application has been approved, says Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), author of the bill.

    Haney’s proposal would end blanket bans on specific pets, he said, adding that the measure would help ease California’s housing crisis.

    Haney introduced Assembly Bill 2216 earlier this month, which he said in a news release requires landlords to “have a reasonable reason[s] for not allowing a pet in a rental unit.”

    “I’ve heard from many constituents about the incredible hurdles and challenges they faced in finding homes simply because they own pets,” Haney told The Times on Wednesday. “They’ve been repeatedly denied because they have a dog — even if their dog is an emotional support animal — and they need accommodations.”

    Haney said he found inspiration from a British bill introduced in Parliament in May that makes pet ownership “an implied term of an assured tenancy,” unless “the landlord reasonably refuses.”

    Haney said that landlords’ restrictions on pets are crippling for the majority of California renters.

    He noted that nearly 70% of the state’s 17 million renting families are pet owners and, of those, nearly 3 million live in Los Angeles County.

    Statistics on pet ownership vary.

    The American Veterinary Medical Assn. said that, in 2020, 45% of all U.S. households owned dogs and 26% owned cats. Among those, 39% of all renters favored canines and 29% preferred felines.

    A widely cited 2014 Apartments.com survey placed pet ownership among renters at 72%. The Humane Society also lists 72% of renters as pet owners.

    What is indisputable, Haney said, is the low number of rentals in California that say they are “pet friendly.” His staff identified daily listings over the course of a week on real estate website Zillow that showed 21% of available rentals in San Francisco allowed pets, and 26% in Los Angeles.

    “California pet owners are over two-thirds of renters, and they’re excluded from units,” Haney said. “I’m a huge supporter of building access to housing, and this is a housing issue.”

    Andrea Amavisca, a senior legislative advocate at the California Immigration Policy Center, said she and her partner spent more than a month trying to find a two-bedroom rental unit in Sacramento that permitted their small mixed-breed dog.

    “Landlords that initially liked our application would suddenly stop answering our calls once they found out we had a dog,” Amavisca said in a statement. “Or others would require a pet deposit close to $1,000 that would put the unit totally out of our budget.”

    Amavisca said it was unfair that nearly every landlord “had a different pet policy with fees that varied based on discretion,” meaning they could charge what they pleased. Some charged only $20 a month, while others asked for $100 and some wanted four-figure cleaning deposits.

    Haney’s bill does not address fees, and the legislation wouldn’t bar landlords from excluding certain types of pets.

    “We’re not saying every landlord should have to accept every animal,” Haney said.

    Haney’s bill defines “a common household pet” as “a domesticated animal, including a dog or cat, that is commonly kept in the home for pleasure rather than for commercial purposes.”

    When asked if boa constrictors, lizards, fish or other legally acquired pets met the definition, Haney said the bill was centered on “companion animals” such as dogs or cats.

    Calls and emails to the California Apartment Assn. and the Apartment Assn. of California Southern Cities seeking comment on this bill were not returned.

    California Oaks Property Management, which manages residential and commercial properties in Ventura County, listed a series of cons regarding pet ownership in a 2023 post to landlords that included property damage, noise complaints and liability issues from possible animal attacks.

    California Oaks recommended that landlords charge an added deposit of $250 to $500 depending on breed.

    Haney said he expected to receive some pushback from landlords.

    “I understand some will be concerned about the potential of taking on renters with pets that do damage in ways they want to avoid,” he said. “I’m open to dialogue.”

    Haney said his bill would also help bring roughly 829,000 tenants who are hiding pets from landlords into the sunshine.

    The bill is in its infancy and has yet to be referred to an Assembly committee, according to state legislative records, although it may come up for a hearing March 9.

    [ad_2]

    Andrew J. Campa

    Source link

  • ‘Utter disbelief’: Missing dog named Patches found nearly four years after wandering away

    ‘Utter disbelief’: Missing dog named Patches found nearly four years after wandering away

    [ad_1]

    NEARLY 600 MILES AND FOUR YEARS LATER, A MISSING DOG IS RESCUED JUST MINUTES AWAY FROM THE MEXICO BORDER. GOOD EVENING. I’M QUANECIA FRASER PATCHES IS NOW. ALMOST TEN YEARS OLD. HER OWNER SAYS SHE WANDERED AWAY FROM A FAMILY FRIEND’S HOUSE IN COLORADO IN 2020. BUT LAST WEEK SHE WAS FOUND BY A SHELTER IN NEW MEXICO. KETV NEWSWATCH SEVEN’S MADDIE AUGUSTINE SAT DOWN WITH PATCH’S OWNER IN THIS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW, QUANECIA BENJAMIN BAXTER TELLS ME HE NEVER THOUGHT HE WOULD SEE PATCHES AGAIN, BUT LAST WEEK HIS WIFE CALLED WHILE HE WAS ON HIS LUNCH BREAK WITH THE NEWS. PATCHES MAY BE ALIVE THE BEST WAY TO DESCRIBE THAT DAY WAS JUST UTTER DISBELIEF. DISBELIEF THAT AFTER NEARLY FOUR YEARS, BENJAMIN BAXTER’S CHILDHOOD DOG PATCHES IS STILL ALIVE AND SAFE. THEY HAD PUT A LOST OR A FOUND A ADD UP FOR HER. AND I’M LOOKING AT THIS PICTURE. I’M JUST LIKE, THERE’S NO WAY BENJAMIN SAYS HE FIRST BROUGHT PATCHES HOME TEN YEARS AGO WHEN SHE WAS ONLY SIX WEEKS OLD, AND THEY WERE INSTANT BEST FRIENDS. I WOULD BE HUNTING OR, UH, ROCK CLIMBING OR WHATEVER, AND SHE’D BE RIGHT THERE. AND SHE WAS THE ONLY DOG I’VE EVER BEEN AROUND TO THAT ACTUALLY LOVED ROCK CLIMBING. BUT SHE’D ALWAYS HAD THIS BIG OLD GOOFY GRIN ON HER FACE THE WHOLE TIME WE WERE OUT. BUT IN 2020, BENJAMIN HAD TO LEAVE PATCHES WITH A FAMILY FRIEND IN CALHAN, COLORADO. AFTER MOVING TO NEBRASKA BECAUSE HIS APARTMENT DIDN’T ALLOW PETS, SHE DECIDED THAT SHE WOULD TAKE PATCHES FROM ME UNTIL I COULD FIND ANOTHER PLACE WHERE I COULD HAVE A DOG WITH ME. BUT JUST A COUPLE OF MONTHS LATER, IN APRIL 2020, PATCHES ESCAPED HER KENNEL AND WAS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. BY DAY SEVEN, I STARTED REALIZING THAT WE WEREN’T GOING TO FIND THIS DOG AND I WAS DEVASTATED UNTIL THIS YEAR. ON JANUARY 31ST, BENJAMIN’S WIFE, ELIZABETH BAXTER, GOT A CALL FROM BENJAMIN’S MOM. SHE’D BEEN GETTING MISSED CALLS FROM AN AREA CODE IN NEW MEXICO, UM, SAYING THAT THEY HAD PATCHES, AND SHE WAS LIKE, IS THIS A SCAM? IS THIS NOT I DON’T KNOW, PATCHES HAD BEEN FOUND AS A STRAY IN LAS CRUCES, NEW MEXICO. ALL IN ALL, LIKE CONSIDERING THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF HER BEING FOUND ON THE STREET AS A STRAY. YEAH, LIKE SHE LOOKS VERY, VERY GOOD. BENJAMIN SAYS MULTIPLE SHELTERS WORK TO BRING PATCHES BACK TO COLORADO TO HIS FAMILY FRIEND. OVER THE LAST WEEK. NOW HE’S JUST HOURS AWAY FROM BEING REUNITED. WE’VE GOT LOTS OF TIME TO MAKE UP FOR, AND I JUST WANT TO GIVE HER A PLACE WHERE SHE CAN BE AT PEACE AND BE AT REST. AND THESE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS THAT WE’RE GOING TO GET TOGETHER. BUT BENJAMIN SAYS HE EXPECTS TO DRIVE TO COLORADO AND REUNITE WITH PATCHES BY NEXT WEEK. THEY’VE ALSO SET UP A DONATION FUND TO HELP THANK THE SHELTERS THAT BROUGHT PATCHES HOME SAFE. THAT LINK CAN BE FOUND IN THIS STORY

    ‘Utter disbelief’: Missing dog named Patches found nearly four years after wandering away

    Nearly 600 miles and four years later, a missing dog is rescued just minutes away from the Mexico border. Benjamin Baxter told sister station KETV that he never thought he would see Patches again after she wandered away from a family friend’s house in Colorado in 2020, but last week, she was found by a shelter in New Mexico. “The best way to describe that day was just utter disbelief,” Baxter said. Disbelief that after nearly four years, his childhood dog, Patches, is still alive and safe. “They had put a lost or a found ad up for her, and I’m looking at this picture, and I’m just like, there’s no way, right?” Baxter said. “I haven’t seen this dog in four years, and there’s just no way my brain literally could not comprehend that I was seeing a picture of my dog as she is now.”Baxter said he first brought Patches home 10 years ago when he was just 13 years old and Patches, was just 6 weeks old. He says they were instant best friends. “I traveled all over the country, state to state and bounced around here, there and pretty much everywhere, and she was there by my side through everything,” Baxter said. “I would be hunting, rock climbing or whatever, and she’d be right there. She was the only dog I’ve ever been around that actually loved rock climbing, but she’d always have this big, goofy grin on her face the whole time.”But in 2020, Baxter made a difficult decision after his new living situation didn’t allow dogs. He had to leave Patches with a family friend in Calhan, Colorado, while he moved to Nebraska for a new job. “She decided that she would take Patches from me until I could find another place where I could have a dog with me,” Baxter said. But just a couple of months later, in April 2020, Patches escaped her kennel and was nowhere to be found.”I thought, OK, you know, like this isn’t a big deal,” Baxter said. “And like I said, she’s a Houdini, so she loves wandering and we’ll get her back fast. But, the days go by, weeks go by. Nothing, I mean, absolutely nothing. Nobody ever responded to any of our lost posters or ads or whatever. By day seven, I started realizing that we weren’t going to find this dog, and I was devastated.”Patches was missing. Until this year.On Jan. 31, Elizabeth Baxter, Benjamin’s wife, got a call from Benjamin’s mom. “She’d been getting missed calls from an area code in New Mexico saying that they had Patches, and she’s like is this a scam?” Elizabeth said. “Is this not? I don’t know.”After several phone calls and emails containing Patches’ past medical records, photos and documentation, it was clear this was, in fact, not a scam.”They’re like, If you want her back, she’s yours,” Elizabeth said. “And I was like, for sure, we want this dog back because I knew how much it would mean to him to have her back.”A day Benjamin never thought would happen. He said at this point, he thought Patches had either found a new home, was eaten by predators, or had simply passed from old age.But, Patches had been found as a stray in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Hundreds of miles away from her home. “All in all, like, considering the circumstance of her being found on the street as a stray, like, she looks very, very good,” Elizabeth said. And with the help of multiple shelters and volunteers, Patches is on her way home. Over the last week, Patches has traveled from New Mexico back to Benjamin’s family friend’s house in Colorado. “I’m just excited to get my dog back,” Benjamin said. “We’ve got lots of time to make up for, and I just want to give her a place where she can be at peace and be at rest in these last couple of years that we’re going to get together.”Reuniting with his long-lost best friend, Benjamin said he plans to drive to Colorado by next week to bring Patches home for good. “If only an animal could tell you stories, because I would love to find out how the heck she can just disappear and where she was, who she was with, how she ended up so close to Mexico,” Benjamin said. Both Elizabeth and Benjamin are grateful to the shelters and family that have helped bring Patches home safely.”We’re just really grateful,” Elizabeth said. “We feel like, we’re really strong believers, and we feel as though God has really just guided and directed this.”The Baxters have set up a donation fund to help thank those shelters and volunteers, if you would like to donate, click here.

    Nearly 600 miles and four years later, a missing dog is rescued just minutes away from the Mexico border.

    Benjamin Baxter told sister station KETV that he never thought he would see Patches again after she wandered away from a family friend’s house in Colorado in 2020, but last week, she was found by a shelter in New Mexico.

    “The best way to describe that day was just utter disbelief,” Baxter said.

    Disbelief that after nearly four years, his childhood dog, Patches, is still alive and safe.

    “They had put a lost or a found ad up for her, and I’m looking at this picture, and I’m just like, there’s no way, right?” Baxter said. “I haven’t seen this dog in four years, and there’s just no way my brain literally could not comprehend that I was seeing a picture of my dog as she is now.”

    Baxter said he first brought Patches home 10 years ago when he was just 13 years old and Patches, was just 6 weeks old. He says they were instant best friends.

    “I traveled all over the country, state to state and bounced around here, there and pretty much everywhere, and she was there by my side through everything,” Baxter said. “I would be hunting, rock climbing or whatever, and she’d be right there. She was the only dog I’ve ever been around that actually loved rock climbing, but she’d always have this big, goofy grin on her face the whole time.”

    But in 2020, Baxter made a difficult decision after his new living situation didn’t allow dogs. He had to leave Patches with a family friend in Calhan, Colorado, while he moved to Nebraska for a new job.

    “She [family friend] decided that she would take Patches from me until I could find another place where I could have a dog with me,” Baxter said.

    But just a couple of months later, in April 2020, Patches escaped her kennel and was nowhere to be found.

    “I thought, OK, you know, like this isn’t a big deal,” Baxter said. “And like I said, she’s a Houdini, so she loves wandering and we’ll get her back fast. But, the days go by, weeks go by. Nothing, I mean, absolutely nothing. Nobody ever responded to any of our lost posters or ads or whatever. By day seven, I started realizing that we weren’t going to find this dog, and I was devastated.”

    Patches was missing.

    Until this year.

    On Jan. 31, Elizabeth Baxter, Benjamin’s wife, got a call from Benjamin’s mom.

    “She’d been getting missed calls from an area code in New Mexico saying that they had Patches, and she’s like is this a scam?” Elizabeth said. “Is this not? I don’t know.”

    After several phone calls and emails containing Patches’ past medical records, photos and documentation, it was clear this was, in fact, not a scam.

    “They’re [shelter who found Patches] like, If you want her back, she’s yours,” Elizabeth said. “And I was like, for sure, we want this dog back because I knew how much it would mean to him [Benjamin] to have her back.”

    A day Benjamin never thought would happen. He said at this point, he thought Patches had either found a new home, was eaten by predators, or had simply passed from old age.

    But, Patches had been found as a stray in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Hundreds of miles away from her home.

    “All in all, like, considering the circumstance of her being found on the street as a stray, like, she looks very, very good,” Elizabeth said.

    And with the help of multiple shelters and volunteers, Patches is on her way home. Over the last week, Patches has traveled from New Mexico back to Benjamin’s family friend’s house in Colorado.

    “I’m just excited to get my dog back,” Benjamin said. “We’ve got lots of time to make up for, and I just want to give her a place where she can be at peace and be at rest in these last couple of years that we’re going to get together.”

    Reuniting with his long-lost best friend, Benjamin said he plans to drive to Colorado by next week to bring Patches home for good.

    “If only an animal could tell you stories, because I would love to find out how the heck she can just disappear and where she was, who she was with, how she ended up so close to Mexico,” Benjamin said.

    Both Elizabeth and Benjamin are grateful to the shelters and family that have helped bring Patches home safely.

    “We’re just really grateful,” Elizabeth said. “We feel like, we’re really strong believers, and we feel as though God has really just guided and directed this.”

    The Baxters have set up a donation fund to help thank those shelters and volunteers, if you would like to donate, click here.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • No shots for Spot? Study finds owners’ vaccine hesitancy can extend to pet dogs

    No shots for Spot? Study finds owners’ vaccine hesitancy can extend to pet dogs

    [ad_1]

    Individuals who are skeptical of vaccines for themselves are also more like to question the need or efficacy of getting shots for their four-legged companions, according to a recent study.

    In the study, published in the medical journal Vaccine, researchers asked 2,200 Americans their thoughts on vaccines and whether they were dog owners. If they were, respondents were then asked whether they would vaccinate their dogs for rabies.

    Approximately half of the pet owners surveyed expressed some degree of vaccine hesitancy — with 53% saying they believed vaccines administered to dogs were unsafe, ineffective or unnecessary, the study found.

    That group was 6% more likely to have dogs that were not vaccinated for rabies, and 27% more likely to oppose rabies vaccine mandates when compared with survey respondents who did not express vaccine hesitancy, according to predicted probabilities outlined in the study.

    Matt Motta, an assistant professor at the Boston University School of Public Health and one of the study’s co-authors, said he was not surprised to see some respondents express reluctance regarding canine vaccines, but was intrigued by the raw data.

    “I think we were pretty shocked at just how pervasive it is, and I think what I found even more shocking is how detrimental its health consequences might be,” Motta said.

    Rabies, though relatively rare, is almost always fatal in animals and humans alike, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, due to vaccines, it’s also highly preventable: Only a few human cases are recorded each year in the United States.

    “The rabies shot is the most important canine vaccination for protecting human health, and yet growing numbers of pet owners are skeptical of it,” the authors of the study wrote for Harvard Public Health.

    Most infections in humans are caused by domestic dog bites.

    California law requires all dogs over 4 months old to be vaccinated for rabies, and similar rules exist throughout most of the U.S.

    Dr. Jeanne Noble, an emergency medicine doctor and COVID-19 response director for UC San Francisco, attributed the recent uptick in vaccine hesitancy in part to the mandates imposed during the pandemic.

    “When public health officials used mandates to increase uptake of COVID vaccines, rather than sticking to broad education campaigns highlighting the tremendous benefits of the vaccine, while also acknowledging the small but measurable risks, we lost the trust of vaccine hesitant communities,” she wrote in an email. “These are folks that previously were cautiously abiding by vaccination recommendations for their children, and their pets, but are now opting out.”

    To build back that trust, Noble suggested meeting people where they are and having honest and complete discussions — answering their questions and concerns without minimizing their fears.

    The authors of the canine vaccine hesitancy study agree, and recommended paying special attention to pet owners.

    “Public health campaigns tackling vaccine hesitancy would do well to consider dog owners in their messaging, and consider drops in pet vaccination, especially for rabies, an important bellwether for gauging public trust in vaccines,” they wrote in their Harvard Public Health post.

    [ad_2]

    Jeremy Childs

    Source link

  • Leave it Leash Announces Official Launch

    Leave it Leash Announces Official Launch

    [ad_1]

    The rising pet solutions company aims to simplify the dog-walking experience while keeping pets happy and healthy.

    Press Release
    –

    Mar 29, 2022


    LOS ANGELES, March 29, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Leave it Leash, a pet solutions company, has announced the official launch of its flagship product, the first patented 14-foot water-spray dog leash that comes with a collapsible bowl. The all-in-one multi-purpose dog water spray handle helps to deter aggressive or overly-curious off-leash dogs, while the nine-ounce water tank and six-ounce collapsible bowl (both BPA-free) allow for optimal on-the-go hydration. 

    The Leave it Leash comes with a five-foot attachable leash, complete with two hooks and a safety wrist strap for added security. The device’s D-ring allows users to attach the five-foot leash to the handle device, which features a simple hooking and unhooking mechanism. The five-foot leash comes with two chrome-plated hooks with 360° rotation for easy attachment to any collar or harness. The hooks are specially designed with strong holding power, reducing the stress for the user while on dog walks. 

    As the company’s first patented product on the market, the Leave it Leash is the first of many items that will be sold as a part of Leave it Leash’s mission to simplify daily dog walks and offer enhanced control during the dog walking experience. With numerous products in the works, the Leave it Leash team is focused on boosting owner confidence and easing the overall experience while simultaneously keeping pets happy, healthy and hydrated.

    “The Leave it Leash is truly a dog walker’s best friend, as it lets owners be fully prepared for their dog walks,” said Cheryl Eckert, founder of Leave it Leash. “Just leave it to your leash to carry the water. Don’t just say it, spray it with the Leave it Leash and get a handle on your dog’s thirst.”

    Built from high-quality materials, the Leave it Leash features a smooth finish and a solid ergonomic grip. The six-ounce collapsible bowl attaches easily to the side of the leash device’s external shell, providing owners with the ability to easily dispense water to their furry friend. The device is a great tool to ensure that dogs remain hydrated at all times and avoid the potential for heat strokes during dog walks or dog hikes. Because the collapsible bowl slides on and off the leash device handle, the bowl itself is very easy to clean. 

    To learn more about Leave it Leash’s safe-to-use water spray that is completely harmless to animals, please visit https://www.leaveitleash.com. 

    About Leave it Leash

    A pet solutions company, Leave it Leash is the first patented 14-foot water-spray dog leash that comes with a collapsible bowl.

    Contact Information:  Cheryl Eckert     Email: info@leaveitleash.com

    Source: Leave It Leash

    [ad_2]

    Source link