Animal Welfare Professionals

Something I keep running into as we build out our prevention model in Central Alabama.

Housing is an animal welfare issue. We all kind of know this. But I don't think most of us have looked at the numbers closely enough to understand the scale.

PIHI (Pet-Inclusive Housing Initiative) published data showing that 74.7% of pet-owning renters cause zero property damage. Of the remaining 25%, 88% of that damage is under $250. We are talking about a problem that largely does not exist in the way landlords think it does.

Meanwhile, when renters with pets can't find housing, 22.7% rehome their animal and 14% hide their pet entirely (which creates its own set of welfare risks). Another 23.4% declare an ESA, which is often just a workaround for restrictive policies, not a reflection of actual disability accommodation needs. That ESA loophole frustrates landlords and makes things worse for people who genuinely need service or support animals.

Here is what we are doing about it at Animal-Angels Foundation. We built a Pet Resume system through our AWRN (Animal Welfare Resource Network). Instead of breed labels, which tell you almost nothing useful about an individual animal, the resume gives landlords verified data: behavior profile, training history, health records, and rental track record. We pair that with an Anti-Damage Prevention Kit during onboarding and ongoing Bridge support if a housing crisis hits.

The pitch to landlords is simple. Pet-inclusive properties see 80% renewal rates and 70% occupancy compared to market averages. In a market with 6.9% vacancy rates nationally and 37% of properties offering concessions, that is a real competitive edge. And when you reduce ESA workarounds by just being inclusive from the start, you reduce the friction that drives landlords to ban pets in the first place.

The harder question for our field: how many of us have a housing intervention in our prevention toolkit? We talk about behavior support, spay/neuter access, food assistance. Those matter. But if a family loses their apartment over a pet deposit or a breed restriction, none of that other work matters because the animal still ends up in a shelter.

We are still early in testing this with landlords in our seven-county service area. I don't have outcome data to share yet. But the research is solid, and the gap in our field is real.

Who else is working on the housing side of this? I would love to know what is working, what is not, and where you are getting pushback from property managers.

#PetSupportServices*

------------------------------
BJ Adkins
Founder/Director
Animal-Angels Foundation
Pinson, AL
bjadkins@animal-angels.org
animal-angelsfoundation.org
------------------------------

Hi there,

I appreciate this post because I have also not often heard this issue talked about within the animal rescue realm, although it is certainly a prominent factor. As a foster-based dog rescue located in Colorado-specifically in places that have been heavily impacted by housing markets due to their popularity and cost, such as Boulder-we rely on the housing market to guarantee that we have enough fosters to care for our dogs. 

This being said, housing instability or conflicts are one of the largest issues we face when trying to secure reliable, safe households to care for our French Bulldogs while they recover from the surgeries and intensive medical care. Individuals may love the idea of fostering one of our pups, but their apartment complex may not allow it, forcing them to turn down our request to temporarily house a dog in need. 

What really stood out to me in your post is how much the facts contradict what landlords have been led to believe. The concept that pets create elevates risk within a house feels deeply ingrained in both the system of housing rentals and society as a whole, although after reading your post, it seems as though the majority of renters with pets are actually considered responsible, not high risk. This means that if this concept was not an issue, then there may be more renters who could help foster our dogs. 

For instance, we base whether or not one is allowed to rent in the first place on their credit score, and their past renting references anyway. Why not include Your Pet Resume on that "renting score"? 

To be clear, our organization is not working on housing as part of our prevention plan, but it is becoming a larger possibility. As the housing in Boulder worsens, and our foster options are therefore decreasing, this may be something our team should revisit in the future. 

I'm curious if you've found or thought of effective ways to reframe landlord's mindsets in regard to these issues? How can we ensure our messages successfully reach landlords? 

Thank you for bringing such an important topic to light, I think this is something more people should pay attention to. Not just on this forum, but also individuals within everyday life. Specifically, landlords as they have the power to implement change. I'm certainly interested in how a Pet Resume system would operate and redirect us moving forward, especially since the housing market is such an integral part of what we do as a foster-base rescue. 

Thank you,

------------------------------
McKenna Van Voris
Administration and Grant Writing Inter
Rocky Mountain French Bulldog Rescue
------------------------------

Hi McKenna,

This is a great conversation, and you make a great point about addressing landlords' mindsets around pets in housing and how we can get the pet-inclusive housing message to them effectively.  At Pet-Inclusive Housing, we provide data, research,  reports, resources, and actionable tools that illuminate the path to more pet-inclusive rental housing for many housing stakeholders, including landlords.

We have resources like Breed ≠ Behavior, Mythbusting Statistics, Making the Case for Pet-Inclusive Policies, and many other tools to help in conversations with landlords about the benefits of pet-inclusive housing policies and how to implement them.

All of our free resources for animal welfare organizations, pet owners, and housing providers are available at petsandhousing.org. 

You can also access all of our reports, including our Pets & Housing Data 2025 Edition and 2021 Pet-Inclusive Housing Report, at petsandhousing.org/pet-inclusive-housing-reports/.

Please feel free to utilize and share our free reports and resources - we only ask that you cite us 😉

All the best,

Sara

------------------------------
Sara Maria Muriello
Senior Program Manager
Pet-Inclusive Housing Initiative, Michelson Found Animals
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2026 10:04 PM
From: McKenna Van Voris
Subject: Housing question we keep ignoring

Hi there,

I appreciate this post because I have also not often heard this issue talked about within the animal rescue realm, although it is certainly a prominent factor. As a foster-based dog rescue located in Colorado-specifically in places that have been heavily impacted by housing markets due to their popularity and cost, such as Boulder-we rely on the housing market to guarantee that we have enough fosters to care for our dogs. 

This being said, housing instability or conflicts are one of the largest issues we face when trying to secure reliable, safe households to care for our French Bulldogs while they recover from the surgeries and intensive medical care. Individuals may love the idea of fostering one of our pups, but their apartment complex may not allow it, forcing them to turn down our request to temporarily house a dog in need. 

What really stood out to me in your post is how much the facts contradict what landlords have been led to believe. The concept that pets create elevates risk within a house feels deeply ingrained in both the system of housing rentals and society as a whole, although after reading your post, it seems as though the majority of renters with pets are actually considered responsible, not high risk. This means that if this concept was not an issue, then there may be more renters who could help foster our dogs. 

For instance, we base whether or not one is allowed to rent in the first place on their credit score, and their past renting references anyway. Why not include Your Pet Resume on that "renting score"? 

To be clear, our organization is not working on housing as part of our prevention plan, but it is becoming a larger possibility. As the housing in Boulder worsens, and our foster options are therefore decreasing, this may be something our team should revisit in the future. 

I'm curious if you've found or thought of effective ways to reframe landlord's mindsets in regard to these issues? How can we ensure our messages successfully reach landlords? 

Thank you for bringing such an important topic to light, I think this is something more people should pay attention to. Not just on this forum, but also individuals within everyday life. Specifically, landlords as they have the power to implement change. I'm certainly interested in how a Pet Resume system would operate and redirect us moving forward, especially since the housing market is such an integral part of what we do as a foster-base rescue. 

Thank you,

------------------------------
McKenna Van Voris
Administration and Grant Writing Inter
Rocky Mountain French Bulldog Rescue
------------------------------

Hi Sara,

Thank you for jumping in here with the resource list. Your 2025 data is doing real work for us in landlord conversations and our upcoming apartment association talks. The 74.7 percent zero-damage number is the single most useful stat we have for flipping mindset.

Looking forward to our April 16 call with you and Ross. We have a lot to walk through on the AWRN side and how we can feed data back to PIHI.

BJ

------------------------------
BJ Adkins
Founder/Director
Animal-Angels Foundation
Pinson, AL
bjadkins@animal-angels.org
animal-angelsfoundation.org
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-08-2026 06:50 AM
From: Sara Maria Muriello
Subject: Housing question we keep ignoring

Hi McKenna,

This is a great conversation, and you make a great point about addressing landlords' mindsets around pets in housing and how we can get the pet-inclusive housing message to them effectively.  At Pet-Inclusive Housing, we provide data, research,  reports, resources, and actionable tools that illuminate the path to more pet-inclusive rental housing for many housing stakeholders, including landlords.

We have resources like Breed ≠ Behavior, Mythbusting Statistics, Making the Case for Pet-Inclusive Policies, and many other tools to help in conversations with landlords about the benefits of pet-inclusive housing policies and how to implement them.

All of our free resources for animal welfare organizations, pet owners, and housing providers are available at petsandhousing.org. 

You can also access all of our reports, including our Pets & Housing Data 2025 Edition and 2021 Pet-Inclusive Housing Report, at petsandhousing.org/pet-inclusive-housing-reports/.

Please feel free to utilize and share our free reports and resources - we only ask that you cite us 😉

All the best,

Sara

------------------------------
Sara Maria Muriello
Senior Program Manager
Pet-Inclusive Housing Initiative, Michelson Found Animals
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2026 10:04 PM
From: McKenna Van Voris
Subject: Housing question we keep ignoring

Hi there,

I appreciate this post because I have also not often heard this issue talked about within the animal rescue realm, although it is certainly a prominent factor. As a foster-based dog rescue located in Colorado-specifically in places that have been heavily impacted by housing markets due to their popularity and cost, such as Boulder-we rely on the housing market to guarantee that we have enough fosters to care for our dogs. 

This being said, housing instability or conflicts are one of the largest issues we face when trying to secure reliable, safe households to care for our French Bulldogs while they recover from the surgeries and intensive medical care. Individuals may love the idea of fostering one of our pups, but their apartment complex may not allow it, forcing them to turn down our request to temporarily house a dog in need. 

What really stood out to me in your post is how much the facts contradict what landlords have been led to believe. The concept that pets create elevates risk within a house feels deeply ingrained in both the system of housing rentals and society as a whole, although after reading your post, it seems as though the majority of renters with pets are actually considered responsible, not high risk. This means that if this concept was not an issue, then there may be more renters who could help foster our dogs. 

For instance, we base whether or not one is allowed to rent in the first place on their credit score, and their past renting references anyway. Why not include Your Pet Resume on that "renting score"? 

To be clear, our organization is not working on housing as part of our prevention plan, but it is becoming a larger possibility. As the housing in Boulder worsens, and our foster options are therefore decreasing, this may be something our team should revisit in the future. 

I'm curious if you've found or thought of effective ways to reframe landlord's mindsets in regard to these issues? How can we ensure our messages successfully reach landlords? 

Thank you for bringing such an important topic to light, I think this is something more people should pay attention to. Not just on this forum, but also individuals within everyday life. Specifically, landlords as they have the power to implement change. I'm certainly interested in how a Pet Resume system would operate and redirect us moving forward, especially since the housing market is such an integral part of what we do as a foster-base rescue. 

Thank you,

------------------------------
McKenna Van Voris
Administration and Grant Writing Inter
Rocky Mountain French Bulldog Rescue

Hi McKenna,

Thank you for this, and for pulling out the piece about landlord mindset. That is exactly where the work has to happen. You can have all the data in the world, but if the belief is still "pets equal risk," nothing moves.

Here is what we are seeing on the ground. The reframe that lands with landlords is not about pets at all. It is about turnover, vacancy, and who pays for both. Pet-inclusive units renew at 80 percent versus 65 percent for pet-restricted ones, and 70 percent occupancy in tight markets. That is the sentence that gets their attention. Once they are listening, the 74.7 percent zero-damage number from PIHI's 2025 data does the rest. We lead with their pain (turnover cost, vacancy loss) and let the research carry the rest.

You nailed the Pet Resume idea. That is exactly the concept. A verified profile that replaces breed labels with real data on behavior, training, health history, and rental history. It sits next to credit score and landlord references as a third data point. A responsible dog owner with a quiet, trained pet and a clean rental record should not be locked out because the chart says "pit bull." We are building it as part of our Animal Welfare Resource Network so any partner shelter, vet, or landlord can pull a pet's verified profile through the platform.

On reaching landlords, a few things are working for us. One, go where they already are. Apartment associations, property management meetings, landlord networking groups. A 20 minute talk at a luncheon puts you in front of dozens of decision makers at once. Two, lead with the business case, not the animal welfare case. Save the heart content for later. Three, offer them something they actually want: a safety net. When a tenant hits a crisis, we step in with our Bridge program (emergency food, vet care, deposit help) so the tenant stays housed and the landlord keeps a paying unit. That turns us from "another nonprofit asking for something" into a resource that reduces their turnover risk.

On the fostering angle, you are hitting the exact gap that keeps foster networks small. People want to foster, their lease says no. A pet-inclusive framework for foster dogs specifically is something worth talking about if your team ever revisits this. I would be happy to share what we have, including our landlord onboarding kit and Pet Resume template, if it helps you start that conversation in Boulder.

If you want to talk more, I am at bjadkins@animal-angels.org or you can grab time at calendly.com/animal-angels. This is exactly the kind of work that belongs in the same conversation.

BJ

------------------------------
BJ Adkins
Founder/Director
Animal-Angels Foundation
Pinson, AL
bjadkins@animal-angels.org
animal-angelsfoundation.org
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2026 10:04 PM
From: McKenna Van Voris
Subject: Housing question we keep ignoring

Hi there,

I appreciate this post because I have also not often heard this issue talked about within the animal rescue realm, although it is certainly a prominent factor. As a foster-based dog rescue located in Colorado-specifically in places that have been heavily impacted by housing markets due to their popularity and cost, such as Boulder-we rely on the housing market to guarantee that we have enough fosters to care for our dogs. 

This being said, housing instability or conflicts are one of the largest issues we face when trying to secure reliable, safe households to care for our French Bulldogs while they recover from the surgeries and intensive medical care. Individuals may love the idea of fostering one of our pups, but their apartment complex may not allow it, forcing them to turn down our request to temporarily house a dog in need. 

What really stood out to me in your post is how much the facts contradict what landlords have been led to believe. The concept that pets create elevates risk within a house feels deeply ingrained in both the system of housing rentals and society as a whole, although after reading your post, it seems as though the majority of renters with pets are actually considered responsible, not high risk. This means that if this concept was not an issue, then there may be more renters who could help foster our dogs. 

For instance, we base whether or not one is allowed to rent in the first place on their credit score, and their past renting references anyway. Why not include Your Pet Resume on that "renting score"? 

To be clear, our organization is not working on housing as part of our prevention plan, but it is becoming a larger possibility. As the housing in Boulder worsens, and our foster options are therefore decreasing, this may be something our team should revisit in the future. 

I'm curious if you've found or thought of effective ways to reframe landlord's mindsets in regard to these issues? How can we ensure our messages successfully reach landlords? 

Thank you for bringing such an important topic to light, I think this is something more people should pay attention to. Not just on this forum, but also individuals within everyday life. Specifically, landlords as they have the power to implement change. I'm certainly interested in how a Pet Resume system would operate and redirect us moving forward, especially since the housing market is such an integral part of what we do as a foster-base rescue. 

Thank you,

------------------------------
McKenna Van Voris
Administration and Grant Writing Inter
Rocky Mountain French Bulldog Rescue
------------------------------