Marilyn with Luke

January 2009, My condo, Rapallo, is now a Pet Friendly building. It took us 5 years, but we are there now. It was a matter of rescinding the no-pet rule in the by-laws and a lot of phone calls, letters and speakers. I used many of your quotes, so I am still at it. I now have 2 cats. One is a rescue and sooo dear. Bobby

October, 2008, from Harold: "the broward county human rights board ruled that I am disabled person, my dog is a service animal and I have a right to full enjoyment of the condominiumm property-my prescription states that my dog is for emotional support and seizures"

Loretta's dog Herman

June 2008 from Loretta: "Our family doctor gave us a note for my husband’s disability, and it is in compliance with the rules of the ADA ,which therefore no one can say anything, unless they want to go up against the ADA ,the condo lawyers say that they can’t fight it since it is a disability note from our Dr. We just have to get a note once a year saying his disability has not changed/or mine.

June, 2008, from Marianne: We have great news.  One year after trying to get Eddie our long haired mini dachshund in to our condo "legally" he is in.  We had been sneaking him in the building past the front door security in a bag and walking him a few streets away for over a year.

The board decided to write a letter to "grandfather" in any pets smaller than 20lbs.  We had to do the normal office registration.  It was a great feeling to finally present him at the front door on my shoulder.  Turns out that all of the security guards are dog lovers and everyone says hello to Eddie now as we go for our walks. 

[Our comment back: Congratulations, but this is mixed news.  From all the letters we get, I anticipate how upset you will be years later when Eddie passes on and you won’t be able to replace him.  The Friars in Ft. Lauderdale do grief counseling and count the grief over losing a pet as one of their major issues.]

Joy snuggling with Bullwinkle
See videos of Joy and one of her birds: Kissy Bird and More Kisses

May, 2008, from Joy in Tamarac:

After 3 of us showed up with our letters from a physician stating our pets were medically necessary The board has decided to not enforce  the “no pet rule”. At least for now. I feel it is only a temporary reprieve.The worst of the board members resigned and the other two are snow birds.”

May, 2008: Board Allows Animal for Medical Condition (Lakeland, FL)

April, 2008:

February, 2008: Judith did not just accept the board's pronouncement that Chloe (seen above) was not allowed. She went to the court and looked up the documents that were filed. The official legal documents said that a dog is allowed if medically necessary, which it was. They had to accept her doctor's note.

August , 2007:  Because of the assistance of the Attorney General's Office of Civil Rights, cat Max can stay in the condo.  Here is the earlier story when we first learned about Ethyl and her service cat:  Woman Calls Cat Lifeline.  Click here to read the letter from the AG's office.

July, 2007:  With the assistance of a TV news team advocate, a 69-year-old woman in Port Charlotte, FL won the right to keep her 17-year-old cat Samba in her condo.  Her cat is an emotional support animal for a condition covered by disability laws.  Click here to read more.

February, 2007: " It has been passed by our Board of Directors to officially allow support/therapy animals in our condo. We have passed and implemented a strict animal policy. We have set up a therapy/support animal committee to monitor the animals and to make sure owners abide by our rules. It has taken over a year to get this passed and up and running but after all the hard work, it is worth and my mother now has a wonderful chihuahua that has changed her life! Oh by the way I had to get on the board to get this done!
Kindest regards and keep up the good fight." Marilyn, Aventura, FL

February, 2007:  Remember this story?: 

December, 2006:  Condo board backs down and allows two cats

November, 2006:  State backs therapy dog's owner.

June, 2006: Cat Owner Victory Puts Condo Board in Doghouse

February, 2005:  Disabled Woman's Dog Has Its Day

February, 2003:  Florida State Statute 760.23 was applied in this case to prevent eviction of a disabled person with a "support animal."

2002, Ft Lauderdale: My Moms condo tried to evict her because she needed ever so deparately to have an adorable puppy for emotional support after my Dad passed away. Well I hired an amazing lawyer and we not only won – but the condo had to pay the legal fees. 

Bubbele was Allowed to Stay

About 10 years ago, Barry Silver, an attorney in Boca Raton represented an elderly gentleman who lives in Boca Chase who owned a dog named Bubbele.  The Association told him and his wife their dog had to leave, but after a doctor's note indicating the dog was therapeutic for the husband's cancer condition, some negotiations, some adverse publicity for the Association, and the threat of a lawsuit the Association relented and Bubbele was allowed to stay.

Wanton Weighed In

In another case, Attorney Silver represented the owner of a dog named Wanton.  The board said the dog weighed too much and thus was "caninus non grata."  He showed that the rules which prohibited dogs were passed improperly and thus, invalid, and Wanton was allowed to stay.

Barry Silver had some recent success fighting other condo abuses, read here.

The officers of Citizens for Pets in Condos have had mixed success: 

Spike and Priya

Maida Genser (President and Treasurer of Citizens for Pets in Condos) won the right to keep her two cats , Spike and Priya, with a THIRD doctor's letter attesting to the need for emotional support animals.  They were rescues from a pound in Michigan.  How can you save animals and then, in the regrettable wording used in the condo documents, "dispose of" them.  She helped two other unit owners in her condo complex keep their pets by educating the condo board and their "Fining Committee" on laws regarding emotional support pets.  (Of course, the board "rewarded" her by unceremoniously removing her from the Finance Committee.)  read more

When David Shapiro (VP of Citizens for Pets in Condos) was snow bird, living part of the year in New York and part down here, he boarded his dog up in New York.  When he moved down to Florida full time, he wanted his dog with him.  He spent a lot of money on lawyers' fees to prove there were inconsistencies in his condo complexes.  He won the right to keep his dog Lexi, but was given the usual "poison pill."  He was told he could not replace Lexi with another dog.  When Lexi had to be put down, it was doubly devastating for David.  He did get another dog, and predictably was challenged by his condo board.  David spent thousands more to get his dog trained as a service dog, money that was not usefully spent because before Lexie II had papers and a service wrap, she could do everything she does not, just from natural doggie instinct.