Photo: WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Some Massachusetts lawmakers are trying to make it easier for pet owners to rent housing.
A common problem among pet owning tenants is becoming more widespread: finding pet friendly housing.
Ally Blanck works with the Animal Rescue League of Boston and she said, "the number one reason that animals are surrendered into our shelter is because of housing related reasons, and it's gotten much worse in the past couple of years."
While she said this has been a problem for renters for a long time, it's been getting worse recently, with sizable increases on surrenders from pet owners who rent.
"In 2023 we were looking at about 300 surrenders because of that, in 2024 that jumped up to over 700," Blanck said.
Animal rights activists are showing support for two bills to be passed to end pet discrimination in rental housing in Massachusetts, S.1022/H.1559 and H.4835.
These changes would include eliminating breed-specific bans in public housing and condo bylaws as well as putting a cap on pet fees for tenants.
Supporters of the bills have said this will make it easier for tenants to find pet friendly housing and avoid exorbitant price increases in their existing housing for having pets.
"That's what this legislation aims to do, to make sure that we're not making generalizations that discriminate against pets, which then make it more difficult to find housing," Blanck said.
Blanck said this would not only improve pet owner's lives but could also be beneficial to landlords.
"We know that it makes people happier, healthier, and we know that it makes them better tenants too. People with pets tend to actually stay in places longer than people without pets," Blanck said.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Mike Macklin reports.