# You can't find an apartment that allows dogs. Are you homeless with Fido, or Fido--\>animal shelter? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 17, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327 "2012-12-17T18:22:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mgalindo13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea5d25/32.png) [@Mgalindo13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mgalindo13)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327/41 "2012-12-19T22:10:29Z")
The other option is to see a shrink and get the dog classified as an “emotional support animal” that cannot be denied to a tenant. I wouldn’t do this unless it was absolutely necessary, but it’s an option. Further, I contend that if I had zero friends or family that could accept my dog temporarily then my dog is the only friend I’ve got. Why would I give up my only friend? Almost ten years ago I was nearly faced with this predicament. I would have easily taken my place on a park bench with her by my side. ---
**Author:** ![Mgalindo13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea5d25/32.png) [@Mgalindo13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mgalindo13)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327/42 "2012-12-19T22:30:59Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Don’t be so sure. It just takes longer. > > Yes I have seen it personally. Why does it matter, humans eat each other when there’s no food… > **[Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alive:_The_Story_of_the_Andes_Survivors)** > > Alive is a 1974 book by the British writer Piers Paul Read documenting the events of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571. > Alive tells the story of an Uruguayan rugby team (who were alumni of Stella Maris College), and their friends and family who were involved in the airplane crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571. The plane crashed into the Andes mountains on Friday 13 October 1972. Of the 45 people on the flight, only 16 survived 72 days of sub-zero temperatures. > The search went on for eight ... > **[Siege of Leningrad | Effect on the city](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Leningrad#Effect_on_the_city)** > > The two-and-a-half-year siege caused the greatest destruction and the largest loss of life ever known in a modern city. On Hitler's direct orders the Wehrmacht looted and then destroyed most of the imperial palaces, such as the Catherine Palace, Peterhof Palace, Ropsha, Strelna, Gatchina, and other historic landmarks located outside the city's defensive perimeter, with many art collections transported to Germany. A number of factories, schools, hospitals and other civil infrastruc > **[Donner Party](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donner_party)** > > The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–1847 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada. Some of the migrants resorted to cannibalism to survive, mainly eating the bodies of those who had succumbed to starvation, sickness, or extreme cold, but in one case two Native American guides were murdered and eaten. > The Donner Party origi... ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327/43 "2012-12-19T23:04:40Z")
If I had no family, which I do though, thank God, I’d be homeless with my dog. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327/44 "2012-12-20T04:30:52Z")
> [@Mgalindo13](#): > > The other option is to see a shrink and get the dog classified as an “emotional support animal” that cannot be denied to a tenant. I wouldn’t do this unless it was absolutely necessary, but it’s an option. > > Further, I contend that if I had zero friends or family that could accept my dog temporarily then my dog is the only friend I’ve got. Why would I give up my only friend? > > Almost ten years ago I was nearly faced with this predicament. I would have easily taken my place on a park bench with her by my side. This +1. My dog is my emotional support system, even though I don’t have a piece of paper legally designating him so. I had to seriously consider this recently, although my current situation has improved. But if I had to, I would have endured living in my car with my dog. ---
**Author:** ![yams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/848f3c/32.png) [@yams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yams)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327/45 "2012-12-20T06:01:36Z")
I’d like to meet all these cats who would put up with life in a tent. love yams!! ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327/46 "2012-12-20T07:12:09Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > I firmly believe that a child would be _reassured_ to know that there are no expendable members of the family. Do you think they’d still feel reassured while being carted off to foster care? Or while they saw their parents being led away in handcuffs after being arrested for child endangerment? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327/47 "2012-12-20T07:35:47Z")
> [@2nd\_Law](#): > > My current dog spent four days locked in an apartment with no food and my neighbor’s dead body, and there wasn’t a tooth mark on the corpse. I have no doubt Max would have starved first. > > Our cats, on the other hand, would probably be munching on us before we were room temperature. Hell, two of our cats chew on us (without drawing blood) while we’re still moving! And the animals are part of our family. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327/48 "2012-12-20T10:36:15Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I perceived it as a thread about _pets_ more than dogs. I don’t see a huge difference between the two animals; I think they’re both entitled to some moral consideration, but not as much as humans in general, and much less than a father owes his child. Dogs are different, though. For a start, they’re pack animals, and to them their family is their pack. It’s more traumatic for them to leave that pack than it is for other pets. Also, it’s magnitudes easier to find a place to rent that will accept a cat than a dog, and also easier to find someone willing to look after your cat temporarily. Otoh, you could theoretically live in a car with your dog. Not so much with a cat. Doesn’t mean either of them are more important than the human members of your family, of course. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327/49 "2012-12-20T11:33:32Z")
I’ve been in this situation. Actually, it was a situation in which we got evicted from our apartment and we ended up being homeless for several days. (And then in a hotel for several months, most of it paid for out of the good grace of our church). And yes, we had to give the cats up. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but at least at the shelter there was a chance someone might take them in. If all five of our cats had stayed with us, there was simply no _way_ we were all gonna make it. And I _still_ miss them all. ---
**Author:** ![JLRogers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@JLRogers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JLRogers)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327/50 "2012-12-20T12:27:30Z")
I’m a responsible adult, so I didn’t adopt a rescue dog until I bought a house and had two backups willing to watch a dog indefinitely should there be an issue. But if some truly bizarre set of circumstances led to me having to choose between my dog and real shelter the dog goes back to the rescue immediately. People who think dogs are people are confusing. Actually, such circumstances would probably involve serious upheaval. There would most likely be food shortages. I would eat the dog. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327/51 "2012-12-20T12:56:21Z")
I don’t think dogs (or cats) are people. I also don’t think that they are any more disposable than people. (But I’m one of those crazy folk that never wanted kids, and is more comfortable around most animals than I am around most humans) ---
**Author:** ![listedmia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e0b2c6/32.png) [@listedmia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/listedmia)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327/52 "2012-12-20T14:03:49Z")
First off, I don’t have kids. Secondly, I’ve been homeless before. It’s not _that_ bad, and having a dog around makes it much better because fewer people try to fuck with you. Also, I cannot imagine a situation where I would have ZERO helpful friends, acquaintances or co-workers, unless I am already a transient person. And I could always sneak the dog in unless I had a hyper vigilant landlord. I could also come up with a convincing service animal story and some kind of official-looking paperwork (Friends have done this to take animals on long-distance buses and hotel rooms and stuff). So basically, this is an extremely unlikely scenario. But if it really came down to it, yeah, I’d probably sleep under the bridge with the dog. If I was in this situation, I would probably be very lonely and/or borderline homeless already. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327/53 "2012-12-20T15:25:09Z")
> [@lorene](#): > > Well, I didn’t marry my husband before the first baby, so I guess the order is: Daughter, husband, son. My poor son. Last in line again. Don’t worry, builds character. > [@](#): > > So, evidently you have raised your kids with different values and I’m glad they work for you and your family. But my children \*would not be reassured in the least \*to know that I would choose homelessness-with-pet for the sake of making sure they know that they, my children, are truly not expendable any more than a 4-legged creature is. Because that’s what you’re saying, right? That otherwise I would be showing hypocrisy and hiding the fact that some “family members” are actually expendable? **Sailboat** [doesn’t have kids](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13119656&postcount=32). So his opinion of what’s reassuring for children is worth as much as anyone else who’s never been responsible for one. > [@](#): > > My kids would be the complete opposite of reassured if I chose homelessness when there was an option for a roof over our heads that I turned down because it meant giving a pet away. They would be frightened for themselves and for my sanity, and probably wondering what other crazy-ass decision I was going to make next. Concur 1000%. My wife had 2 cats who she’d had since college, and who she absolutely adored. When our second daughter was diagnosed with an allergy to cats, she didn’t even consider any option but getting rid of the cats. True, she gave them to her mother but not a shelter, but humans come first. Always. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327/54 "2012-12-20T15:51:30Z")
The OP didn’t mention a kid as a part of the hypothetical, so everyone scoffing at the idea of exposing their kid to homelessness, and feeling all smug about, are changing the question, IMHO. Parents of the year, one and all, pick up your trophy as you exit the stage. No kids, but I do have a dog (and a wife, not that it matters in this hypothetical) and Lucy and I would be snuggling up together somewhere outside. She loves camping! ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327/55 "2012-12-20T16:03:56Z")
If I was made homeless I’d seriously consider myself better off **with** my dog: for (mutual) comfort, companionship, warmth and protection. If it came to a situation where I was forced to beg I’m pretty sure I’d get more handouts too, from those that are more likely to feel sympathy for the dog than me. Oh, and I’m answering the question as posed in the OP where no kids are mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327/56 "2012-12-20T16:08:56Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Concur 1000%. My wife had 2 cats who she’d had since college, and who she absolutely adored. When our second daughter was diagnosed with an allergy to cats, she didn’t even consider any option but getting rid of the cats. My parents had their cat for 2 years before I was born. When I was diagnosed with cat allergies as a little kid, giving up the cat wasn’t even an option. He was there first and he actually saved my life when I was a baby (He woke my mom up and led her to my crib where I wasn’t breathing properly. There is a history of SIDS in my family.) They simply kept him out of my bedroom and vaccumed, dusted, wiped the baseboards every week and told me to keep my face out of his fur. He passed when I was 11 and was the best cat ever. IMHO, parents who immediately give up their family pet(s) - depending on the severity of the allergy, of course - are lazy. /threadjack. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327/57 "2012-12-20T16:31:57Z")
Cat stays with me. I’d figure out a way to make it happen. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327/58 "2012-12-20T16:51:17Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > The OP didn’t mention a kid as a part of the hypothetical, so everyone scoffing at the idea of exposing their kid to homelessness, and feeling all smug about, are changing the question, IMHO. Parents of the year, one and all, pick up your trophy as you exit the stage. > > No kids, but I do have a dog (and a wife, not that it matters in this hypothetical) and Lucy and I would be snuggling up together somewhere outside. She loves camping! He didn’t mention anything about **excluding** kids from the hypothetical either, and used the word “you” several times, which IMHO means apply this hypothetical to your current life, not change around things that aren’t even mentioned in the OP. And he also came back in post #3 and specifically added a kid. But thanks for the trophy. It’ll look nice on the mantel. ---
**Author:** ![Mgalindo13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea5d25/32.png) [@Mgalindo13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mgalindo13)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327/59 "2012-12-20T17:04:07Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Concur 1000%. My wife had 2 cats who she’d had since college, and who she absolutely adored. When our second daughter was diagnosed with an allergy to cats, she didn’t even consider any option but getting rid of the cats. True, she gave them to her mother but not a shelter, but humans come first. Always. The hypothetical posits “where he’ll likely be euthanized,” if that was the only other option would the decision still have been so easily made? ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327/60 "2012-12-20T17:17:21Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > The OP didn’t mention a kid as a part of the hypothetical, so everyone scoffing at the idea of exposing their kid to homelessness, and feeling all smug about, are changing the question, IMHO. Parents of the year, one and all, pick up your trophy as you exit the stage. > > No kids, but I do have a dog (and a wife, not that it matters in this hypothetical) and Lucy and I would be snuggling up together somewhere outside. She loves camping! Who’s feeling smug? Who’s adding anything to the question that the original poster hismelf hadn’t put in there, abeit not in the first post? I can’t believe that I am allowing myself to feel like I have to defend my desire to keep a roof over my kids’ heads even if it means giving up a pet. \* I will defend to the death my right to not choose homelessness! Your accusations that it’s just smug self-righteousness that impels me to say that I don’t want my kids to sleep on a park bench will not force me to change my mind.\* The bar is set pretty fucking low if all it takes earn a sarcastic Parent of the Year award is not choosing Fido over shelter for my kids. But such are the crazy-ass ways of the SDMB. Shun technology. Laugh at the inferior plebes who actually choose to participate in social media. Choose animals over humans, even if those humans are your children and you have a way to keep them safe that involves not choosing the animal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-find-an-apartment-that-allows-dogs-are-you-homeless-with-fido-or-fido-animal-shelter/644327.md?page=4)