Animal Welfare Professionals

At our non-profit shelter in Eastern Idaho, we mainly take in owner-surrendered animals or transfers from other shelters. In the past year, we have seen a noticeable shift in the primary reason of why animals are getting surrendered. While behavioral issues used to be the main cause, housing and landlord issues are now at the forefront. Due inflation and rapid growth in our area, we are now confronted with a situation with many people being forced to  give up their pet because their housing had changed, pets are now longer allowed, and in some cases homelessness. Our waitlist has grown extensively.
We have some support programs we can offer for many of the other causes (e.g. dog training program, referral to support for some veterinary costs, offering free pet food for people in need), but we are a bit of a loss how to best deal with this new dynamic. I am sure in many other regions this has been an issue for longer, so any ideas of how to address it would be welcome:
- how to best support people and animals in this situation during the actual surrender,
- partnerships you might have formed that helped to keep animals and pet together,
- any other ideas how to address the issue.
Thanks for your support
#AdmissionsandIntake(includingIntake-to-placement)
#CommunityPartnerships*
#Rehoming

------------------------------
Nora Paech
Development Director
Snake River Animal Shelter
------------------------------

That's a tough problem and one we're likely going to see more and more of in the next year.

We just implemented a new intake diversion program using Home to Home (https://home-home.org/) through a grant from ASPCA.  It gives current owners the option to list their pet through our organization without surrender to try and find an owner without our shelter's involvement.  We've added it as part of our surrender procedure where a person has to have submitted their animal to the home-home listing, in most cases, before it can be surrendered to the shelter.  At the very least it makes sure that we have more background information on the animal before it comes in.

The other thing you can look at is tenant education.  There are some eviction protections or renter exclusions that can help keep animals in the home.  The big one would be the exception for service or emotional support animals.  Federal laws in some cases will protect a renter and require the landlord to make an exception to a pet policy if the renter has a documented medical need.  Renters are often not aware or not well versed in getting the required paperwork to make that happen.

If this is a major problem for your shelter, you may just want to have a list of Idaho based resources for tenants and renters going over things like, lists of pet friendly rental locations near you, eviction laws and resources, legal aid, rent and utility assistance, VA housing, etc.

There are also a couple of resources that look at addressing some of these issues such as:

• https://www.pawsopeningdoors.com - Fantastic resource with national support for eviction laws, animal accommodation laws, and housing support services
• https://www.BringFido.com - Pet friendly hotel search
• https://www.humananimalsupportservices.org/keeping-families-together - HASS Evicition Support Toolkit
• https://www.ag.idaho.gov/content/uploads/2018/04/LandlordTenant.pdf - Idaho Landlord/Tenant Manual
• https://www.idaholegalaid.org/node/2388/fair-housing-assistive-animals - Idaho Legal Aid Assistive Animals

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Jeff Okazaki
Humane Society of Jefferson County
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-25-2022 12:01 PM
From: Nora Paech
Subject: How can we better address owner surrenders due to housing issues?

At our non-profit shelter in Eastern Idaho, we mainly take in owner-surrendered animals or transfers from other shelters. In the past year, we have seen a noticeable shift in the primary reason of why animals are getting surrendered. While behavioral issues used to be the main cause, housing and landlord issues are now at the forefront. Due inflation and rapid growth in our area, we are now confronted with a situation with many people being forced to  give up their pet because their housing had changed, pets are now longer allowed, and in some cases homelessness. Our waitlist has grown extensively.
We have some support programs we can offer for many of the other causes (e.g. dog training program, referral to support for some veterinary costs, offering free pet food for people in need), but we are a bit of a loss how to best deal with this new dynamic. I am sure in many other regions this has been an issue for longer, so any ideas of how to address it would be welcome:
- how to best support people and animals in this situation during the actual surrender,
- partnerships you might have formed that helped to keep animals and pet together,
- any other ideas how to address the issue.
Thanks for your support
#AdmissionsandIntake(includingIntake-to-placement)
#CommunityPartnerships*
#Rehoming

------------------------------
Nora Paech
Development Director
Snake River Animal Shelter
------------------------------

Here is info that may be helpful: https://humanepro.org/topics/pet-friendly-housing

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Nancy Peterson
The National Kitten Coalition
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-25-2022 12:01 PM
From: Nora Paech
Subject: How can we better address owner surrenders due to housing issues?

At our non-profit shelter in Eastern Idaho, we mainly take in owner-surrendered animals or transfers from other shelters. In the past year, we have seen a noticeable shift in the primary reason of why animals are getting surrendered. While behavioral issues used to be the main cause, housing and landlord issues are now at the forefront. Due inflation and rapid growth in our area, we are now confronted with a situation with many people being forced to  give up their pet because their housing had changed, pets are now longer allowed, and in some cases homelessness. Our waitlist has grown extensively.
We have some support programs we can offer for many of the other causes (e.g. dog training program, referral to support for some veterinary costs, offering free pet food for people in need), but we are a bit of a loss how to best deal with this new dynamic. I am sure in many other regions this has been an issue for longer, so any ideas of how to address it would be welcome:
- how to best support people and animals in this situation during the actual surrender,
- partnerships you might have formed that helped to keep animals and pet together,
- any other ideas how to address the issue.
Thanks for your support
#AdmissionsandIntake(includingIntake-to-placement)
#CommunityPartnerships*
#Rehoming

------------------------------
Nora Paech
Development Director
Snake River Animal Shelter
------------------------------

Check out the link Nancy posted! I was going to share the same one. It has lots of good resources, tips, and strategies. One thing my local shelter does is send pets like that into foster care to give the owner time to find new housing. I've taken several of them. They stay with a foster for up to three months or maybe longer, I'm not sure. Mine were able to be reunited faster. You can also offer to pay pet fees, or help them negotiate with the landlord (especially if they are doing something illegal). The link explains a lot of the legal stuff and data about how people with pets are good renters if landlords push back!

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M Saucedo
GIS Analyst
Pets for Life
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-25-2022 12:01 PM
From: Nora Paech
Subject: How can we better address owner surrenders due to housing issues?

At our non-profit shelter in Eastern Idaho, we mainly take in owner-surrendered animals or transfers from other shelters. In the past year, we have seen a noticeable shift in the primary reason of why animals are getting surrendered. While behavioral issues used to be the main cause, housing and landlord issues are now at the forefront. Due inflation and rapid growth in our area, we are now confronted with a situation with many people being forced to  give up their pet because their housing had changed, pets are now longer allowed, and in some cases homelessness. Our waitlist has grown extensively.
We have some support programs we can offer for many of the other causes (e.g. dog training program, referral to support for some veterinary costs, offering free pet food for people in need), but we are a bit of a loss how to best deal with this new dynamic. I am sure in many other regions this has been an issue for longer, so any ideas of how to address it would be welcome:
- how to best support people and animals in this situation during the actual surrender,
- partnerships you might have formed that helped to keep animals and pet together,
- any other ideas how to address the issue.
Thanks for your support
#AdmissionsandIntake(includingIntake-to-placement)
#CommunityPartnerships*
#Rehoming

------------------------------
Nora Paech
Development Director
Snake River Animal Shelter
------------------------------

Dear Jeff, dear Nancy, dear M,

Thank you all for the feedback and links provided.
The links are a really great starting point for us and I like the idea of developing some list of options at hand that we could offer.
It'd be really great that in a situation where people often feel powerless to show that there are options for them and their pet to stay together.
Thanks again!

------------------------------
Nora Paech
Development Director
Snake River Animal Shelter
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-29-2022 11:16 AM
From: M Saucedo
Subject: How can we better address owner surrenders due to housing issues?

Check out the link Nancy posted! I was going to share the same one. It has lots of good resources, tips, and strategies. One thing my local shelter does is send pets like that into foster care to give the owner time to find new housing. I've taken several of them. They stay with a foster for up to three months or maybe longer, I'm not sure. Mine were able to be reunited faster. You can also offer to pay pet fees, or help them negotiate with the landlord (especially if they are doing something illegal). The link explains a lot of the legal stuff and data about how people with pets are good renters if landlords push back!

------------------------------
M Saucedo
GIS Analyst
Pets for Life

Original Message:
Sent: 11-25-2022 12:01 PM
From: Nora Paech
Subject: How can we better address owner surrenders due to housing issues?

At our non-profit shelter in Eastern Idaho, we mainly take in owner-surrendered animals or transfers from other shelters. In the past year, we have seen a noticeable shift in the primary reason of why animals are getting surrendered. While behavioral issues used to be the main cause, housing and landlord issues are now at the forefront. Due inflation and rapid growth in our area, we are now confronted with a situation with many people being forced to  give up their pet because their housing had changed, pets are now longer allowed, and in some cases homelessness. Our waitlist has grown extensively.
We have some support programs we can offer for many of the other causes (e.g. dog training program, referral to support for some veterinary costs, offering free pet food for people in need), but we are a bit of a loss how to best deal with this new dynamic. I am sure in many other regions this has been an issue for longer, so any ideas of how to address it would be welcome:
- how to best support people and animals in this situation during the actual surrender,
- partnerships you might have formed that helped to keep animals and pet together,
- any other ideas how to address the issue.
Thanks for your support
#AdmissionsandIntake(includingIntake-to-placement)
#CommunityPartnerships*
#Rehoming

------------------------------
Nora Paech
Development Director
Snake River Animal Shelter
------------------------------

•  Thank you for this post. This is truly an issue that is being felt all over the world.  The housing crisis and rise in rent and mortgage cots is truly making people  choose between keeping their pet that they love or having to keep a roof over their own heads and that is a terrible situation to be placed in I am excited to see what resources other are using who are experiencing may have.

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Marissa Reid
Assistant Practice Manager
Blue Pearl Specialty and Emergency Pet Hospital

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Access To Care Specialist
Clinic Management Specialist
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-25-2022 12:01 PM
From: Nora Paech
Subject: How can we better address owner surrenders due to housing issues?

At our non-profit shelter in Eastern Idaho, we mainly take in owner-surrendered animals or transfers from other shelters. In the past year, we have seen a noticeable shift in the primary reason of why animals are getting surrendered. While behavioral issues used to be the main cause, housing and landlord issues are now at the forefront. Due inflation and rapid growth in our area, we are now confronted with a situation with many people being forced to  give up their pet because their housing had changed, pets are now longer allowed, and in some cases homelessness. Our waitlist has grown extensively.
We have some support programs we can offer for many of the other causes (e.g. dog training program, referral to support for some veterinary costs, offering free pet food for people in need), but we are a bit of a loss how to best deal with this new dynamic. I am sure in many other regions this has been an issue for longer, so any ideas of how to address it would be welcome:
- how to best support people and animals in this situation during the actual surrender,
- partnerships you might have formed that helped to keep animals and pet together,
- any other ideas how to address the issue.
Thanks for your support
#AdmissionsandIntake(includingIntake-to-placement)
#CommunityPartnerships*
#Rehoming

------------------------------
Nora Paech
Development Director
Snake River Animal Shelter
------------------------------