December 21, 2022

People With Pets Have a Very Hard Time Finding Affordable Rentals. These Ordinances Will Make It Easier.

Amendments to Article 13 and Chapter 10 of the City of Lawrence Code will lead to more truly pet-friendly housing—and more pets home with their families.

Over 65 percent of U.S. families include pets. That number goes up to 75 percent for renters. 

But a recent survey of rental properties in Lawrence, Kansas, found only 2 percent of them are truly pet-friendly, with no breed, weight, height, or size restrictions for dogs. 

That leaves a lot of families unable to find housing for themselves and their animals. They're faced with the terrible choice of being housed, or keeping the pets they love. Some families will choose to live in their car, and others will surrender their pet to our local tax-funded shelter, the Lawrence Humane Society. 

The pets being given up due to housing issues could, and should, be home with their families—and many more will be in our community if the Lawrence City Commission votes to enact two changes to the City of Lawrence Code that will increase housing options in Lawrence and Douglas County. The first addresses the lack of pet-inclusive housing directly. The second attacks this problem by opening up more housing for people, and with that for more pets. 

The first proposed change, which amends Article 13 of the City of Lawrence Code, requires any Lawrence landlord receiving municipal dollars (like tax-funded land grants, tax abatements, or grant funding) to allow tenants to keep at least one cat or dog, without any restrictions on size or breed. This language is modeled after state laws in California and Illinois. If approved in its current form, the ordinance change will apply to over 90 percent of multi-unit rental properties in Lawrence. 

Under another proposed ordinance change, all other rentals that do not receive tax dollars. but do impose size and breed-based pet restrictions, will face a fee to offset the Lawrence Humane Society’s cost of caring for pets separated from their families due to these policies. 

These changes are not just good for people and pets—but also for the Lawrence economy.

A 2017 PetSmart Charities study on the economic effects of pet ownership (download the report here) finds that pet ownership stimulates a community's economic growth, and pet-friendly communities experience more economic growth than those that are not welcoming to pets. 

This is in part because pet owners make a lot of purchases for their pets—food, supplies, veterinary care, cute little toys, hiring dog walkers, and more. It's also because pet owners are healthier and have better job performance, which "boosts worker productivity and overall economic growth," in the words of the report.

The study also finds that pet laws themselves influence rates of pet ownership. In other words, the Lawrence ordinance would allow more residents to have and keep pets, which in turn would lead to greater economic growth. A community can only be pet-friendly, with pet-friendly housing—especially rentals. 

Landlords can see benefits, too, as pet-friendly rental units generally see an increased market value of 20 to 30 percent over similar units that don't allow pets.

This proposed ordinance is accompanied by companion updates to Chapter 10 of the City of Lawrence Code—including an amendment to prohibit landlords from discriminating against tenants based on, among other things, their source of income. 

This is a critical update because we know it's not just pets that prevent people from being housed—but also discrimination based on a renter's source of income; housing vouchers, in many cases. In fact, a 2021 survey of Lawrence housing revealed a full 80 percent of units did not accept vouchers. An assessment conducted by the University of Kansas's Center for Public Partnerships & Research found that vouchers not being accepted by landlords, and other restrictive screening practices, are major barriers to housing in Lawrence. 

The amended ordinance will also prohibit discrimination based on a person’s status as a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or human trafficking, in addition to the categories already protected under this law.

These changes better reflect the needs and makeup of our Lawrence community, and will offer stronger housing protections for more people, as well as more protections in other areas of civic life. 

When people don't have a home, neither do their pets. As attorneys for the Lawrence Humane Society and other shelters across the country, we believe people and their pets deserve to be safe, secure, and housed. 

These ordinances directly address factors that are contributing to Lawrence's housing crisis. Better protections for people's housing, means more stable housing for pets as well. That means fewer pets heartbreakingly given up to our local animal shelter, and more pets in homes, with their people.

We are working to pass these changes through the City Commission. We'll update this blog once there's movement—expected now in March 2023. Here's to a happy new year for people and pets!