Citizens for Pets in Condos

Citizens FOR
Pets in Condos
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health benefits of companion animals

condo/HOA reform

FAQs

e-mail us
954.366.4555

Please sign the petition to allow pets in condos
(en Español)
sign online
(click on the red text)

NOTE: the counts below include BOTH online and on-paper signatures!

Print and distribute paper petitions:

Print version of petition
Request a copy via e-mail

You can help
spread the word:

flyers
brochures

Use our artwork for:

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Check out our
links page

and our
reading list

We can't be SERIOUS all the time! Read some of our
FUN STUFF

Voki Message
(turn on your speakers)

See page 15 of The Florida Department of Elder Affairs
"Disaster Preparedness
Guide for Elders"
for a guideline about Pets and Disasters

official logo by Eddy White
Join our e-mail list
See our PSAs

Read more about the organization.

**ACTION ITEMS**

Humana

www.humana.com
Humana on pets
info for medical professionals

Fundraiser: Get your 2011 Entertainment Book

Marcy I. LaHart, animal lawyer

Marcy I. LaHart, Esq
represents pet owners who have
legal issues relating to
their companion animals.
http://www.floridaanimallawyer.com/
(352) 224-5699

Citizens for Pets in Condos, Inc.* educates the public on the health benefits of animal companionship and about
responsible pet ownership in order to increase acceptance of companion animals in common interest ownership communities.
We believe that association rules should concentrate on irresponsible pet owners,
allowing a win-win situation for responsible animal guardians and
animals who would otherwise be needlessly "euthanized"**.

*a 501-c3 tax exempt corporation.

** According to the No Kill Advocacy Center, "Euphemisms like 'euthenasia' or 'putting them to
sleep' obscure the gravity of what we are doing to cats and dogs as a society, and
make the task of killing easier." Click here to read the whole article.
Click here to read the current issue of the "No Kill Advocate" e-newsletter.

Use GoodSearch for web searching and we get a penny for each search!

GoodSearch keywords to search for
Web This Site

(Be sure to fill in Citizens for Pets in Condos in the "Who Do You Search For?" box)

"It's truly disheartening that so many pets are turned into shelters all over
the country simply because their owner's living arrangment does not allow
them. The pet population is completely out of control and so many loving
companions are euthanized because there is not enough space in the shelters.
Many more pets would have a chance at life, and many more peoples' lives
would improve--if only more housing areas allowed animal companions."
OUR online petition)

"Half our problems would be solved [finding places for our dogs]
if pets were allowed in condos,"
Phill Congleton, South Florida Siberian Husky Rescue

Citizens for Pets in Condos was incorporated as the type of 501-c3 organization that is allowed by the I.R.S. to do limited lobbying (campaigning for legislation).

Click here to read about our legislative efforts,
current and future...

Do you need to find a place NOW where you can keep your companion animal(s)?

Go to our housing help page.

Give a talk for Citizens for Pets in Condos:

View/download a presentation on the Health Benefits of Companion Animals. (download PowerPoint Viewer from HERE if you don't have it)

Featured Sponsor: Nanette's Pets Professional Pet Care

Other Supporters

Pet Friendly Agent
Pet Chamber of Commerce
Village Pet Pals
Melanie Wolf, Realty Associates
PetInsurance.org

Citizens for Pets in Condos, Inc. advocates for replacing no-pet deed restrictions with more reasonable pet guidelines.

See some examples here.

Allow responsible animal guardians to have companion animals. Put the onus instead on irresponsible pet owners who ruin it for the rest of us. Pets are not the problem; irresponsible owners are.

We currently have a petition drive to allow pets in condos in Florida.
California has a law to that effect.***
We want the same thing in Florida!

***California Civil Code Section 1360.50, signed into law in 2000 and effective Jan 2001 states that:

'No governing documents shall prohibit an owner of a separate interest within a common interest development from keeping at least one pet within the common interest development subject to reasonable rules and regulations of the association." The law also applies to mobile home parks. Under California law, "governing documents," by the way, includes "operating rules."'

We do NOT have an endowment, so we need YOUR support
Get our logo merchandise

Shop our online malls:

SaveAPet Mall, Yellow Brick Mall,
iGive.com, One Cause, GoodShop

Quick Links:
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Links to other animal
campaigns
vFinancial Aid for Pet Care
vMilitary Pets Fostering
vCharitable Pet
Trusts Act
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vclick here daily (Animal Rescue Site)
to "feed an animal in need" for free
vFree Kibble for dogs
vFree kibble for cats
vHelp Pets in Need

Jennifer Santiago, emmy-winning reporter for HDNews did a series of interviews on pets and condos. She supports Citizens for Pets in Condos.

Celebrity Bartenders at our
8/21/09 Event:

Jay Cashmere,
WPTV NewsChannel 5

Jay Zeager, Gator 98.7 FM

Meet the "poster child" for Citizens_for Pets
in Condos

How could ANYONE want to make someone give up this sweetheart?

Many people write to us. Read their letters and stories.

Read Why Change is Needed

AARP Ensorses Open Door

Read about some
success stories

People have all kinds of excuses why pets should not be allowed in condos.

Bah! Humbug!

Read our answers to some common issues.

News for cats and dogs - Opening Minds, Saving Lives: The No Kill Equation

Citizens for Pets in Condos in the news!

Ensuring a "Yes-Pets" Rule

In the News

HealthyTalk Radio

Stay informed! Sign up to
get e-mail updates

Join the discussion group

Sign our guest book

Why “Pets in Condos”?
A Civil and Property Rights Perspective,
by Barbara Feeney, Advisory Board, Citizens for Pets in Condos

What are the main problems
with pets in condos?
(Creative Conflict Resolutions)

Letter to Florida Representative Peter Nehr from Sharon Brown, Board Member, Citizens for Pets in Condos

Collaborating Organizations:

Open Door Miami
(a project of Miami Pets Alive),
The Pet Project,
Florida Pet Network,
PetsTV.com,
Pets911,
Cyber Citizens for Justice,
Treasure Coast Health Council,
Pets-OK,
Florida Pet Book,
Pets for the Elderly Foundation,
Woof Patrol,
Peace River Refuge & Ranch,
United Wag,
Share-A-Pet,
LOHV (League of Humane Voters),
Open Door
(a project of Animal Rescue Coalition, Sarasota, FL), and other groups interested in creating a win-win situation for people and their animal companions.

Enter your search terms Submit search form

Web www.petsincondos.org

SPECIAL MESSAGE OF IMPORTANCE
for Floridians

When Florida State Representative Julio Robaina learned how many people signed our petition to allow pets in condos,
he said he would help us. He was the sponsor of the 2007 Emotional Support Animal bill. Florida State Representative
Peter Nehr sponsored the 2008 Emotional Support Animal bill.

Let these legislators and your own Florida legislators know your story and that you are behind their efforts.
Tell everyone you know to do the same.

Please also contact the governor and lieutenant governor to tell them you want
the Emotional Support Animal bill passed this year!

NOTE: Citizens for Pets in Condos does not support any political parties or candidates.
We do support positive legislation for pet owners/guardians.

Our petition results have already influenced legislators to spopnsor bills to clarify the right to have Emotional Support
Animals (just PART of what we want, handling only the most extreme cases).
Click here to read the text of the bill that was submitted in 2008.
If you live in Florida, please tell YOUR legislators that you want a law similar to
California Civil Code Section 1360.50 that allows unit owners in California
to have at least one pet. If you have not already signed our petition,
please click here. If you have signed, there is more you can do.
Tell other people to sign online and print off our paper petitions, flyers, and
mini-ads and get the out there!

See ACTION ITEMS for additional things YOU can do.

Help make sure this cutie pie gets to stay with her guardian - sign our petition.

Many thousands of potential responsible pet owners, mainly seniors, have been arbitrarily denied the possibility of pet ownership.

90 million American households have companion animals. If almost 65% of all US households have pets****, why is it 0%
(allowed) in most condominiums in south Florida? If 40% of all US households have dogs, why is it 0% for seniors in south
Florida? DOES THIS MAKE ANY SENSE TO YOU?

Proactively denying the ability to have animal companions is not justified. A better alternative is to rescind privileges if they are abused.
Citizens for Pets in Condos, Inc. does NOT support irresponsible pet owners.
Time for the repetitive subliminal message from FloridaPets.net:
"Doggie pooper scoopers, use them, always, everywhere you go. Good human."
Citizens for Pets in Condos, Inc. mainly deals with getting pets allowed in common interest ownership communities (condos,
HOAs, co-ops and trailer parks). It is bad enough that some landlords do not allow responsible tenants***** to have pets,
but here we are talking about home owners who do not have the right to live the way they want. A few irresponsible people
can ruin it for everyone else.

Since so much of this kind of lifestyle interference happens in south Florida, it begs the question whether there is some form
of prejudice against seniors going on. Huge numbers of people retire in 55+ communities where the rules are
incredibly more restrictive than in other types of communities and more so than in condos in other parts of the country
There are ingrained (and old-fashioned) attitudes that seniors either unable or unwilling to be responsible about their animal
companions. Another issue, underlying reluctance to have pets in 55+ communities, is the worry about what happens
to the pets if the owner becomes incapacitated or dies. (Wouldn't it be better to give the animals a chance to live, i
nstead of euthanizing so many****** because no-pets rules are so prevalent?)
A 2005-06 survey by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, or APPMA, shows that three-quarters of dog
owners consider their dog like a child or family member; more than half of cat owners feel the same way. Attitudes are
different than when some of the oldest seniors were young. Some people remember when people did not even allow pets
inside their homes. Part of the issue with pets in Florida is OLD THINK.
*latest pet statistics: 90 million cats, 74 million dogs and 40 million parrots in US households. It is difficult to count
how many people hide pets in common interest ownership communities. We would have to get information from pet
food stores and veterinarians because people are terrified of having their companions taken away from them - too
terrified to fight this injustice.

*****see this other petition for renter's rights to have pets ==> click here Check out the story related to that petition.

****** Tri-county area leads nation in pet euthanization. In 2001, animal shelters in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade
counties took in 112,197 strays and unwanted pets. Almost two-thirds -- 70,514 -- were put to death. In 2004 - 2005,
Miami-Dade County executed 17,221 cats and 23,308 dogs that were either abandoned by their owners or found on the
streets. "They are executing 50 dogs a day at the Palm Beach shelter. It is imperative that more people who would like
to rescue a companion animal be allowed to do so by having them in their own homes. (condos etc)" --comment posted
on our petition

''Too many precious animals are euthanized just because they are homeless,'' says Dr. Sara Pizano, director of Miami-Dade
Animal Services. "We need the entire community to come together to solve this crisis.''

The statistics are worse for larger dogs. "The pet weight limit for most condo association is too low. It should be increaded
to 40 pounds! The standard 15 pound limit eleminates 90% of dogs." --comment posted on our petition

This woman was denied her life-line, in spite of a legitimate doctor's letter.

click here to find out What to Do for Now If You Are Asked to Remove Your Pet

While it is difficult to keep a pet, you may be able to keep a helper animal, either due to physical or emotional disability.

Citizens for Pets in Condos, Inc. is all about making changes so you don't have to be considered sick to do
something that is entirely normal - have an animal companion for all of the many benefits it could have.

Click here to read about the many health benefits of having companion animals.

Publications from Citizens for Pets in Condos:

New HUD Rules Make It Easier to Have Emotional Support Animals (article)

Workable Solutions to Pet “Problems” (article)

The Healing Power of Pets (article)

No Children, No Pets (article)

Citizens for Pets in Condos (tri-fold, 2-sided brochure)

Crazy for Animals (poem)

Opponents will give you all kinds of reasons why pets should not be allowed.

Some thoughts on some issues related to allowing pets.

Make a tax-exempt contribution. ========================== Donate through Network for Good Donate through First Giving Donate through Just Give Donate through Change.org ================ Donations by check to "Citizens for Pets in Condos, Inc." can be mailed to PO Box 26071 Tamarac, FL 33320
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