Ay! Ay! Ay! Or, "Having pets in San Francisco"
This may sound strange to those from other parts of the country where animals are a very natural part of living.

Unless you are the owner of your own house, having a pet here can represent a problem in terms of finding a place to live. You will find that your apartment options are somewhat more narrow and limited, and once you do find a place, you often have to pay a monthly premium or a one-time move-in deposit against potential pet damage.

Obviously the species is a big factor. Fish are not too much of a problem, although some apartments prohibit fishtanks because of the damage to the floors when an earthquake topples the tank.

The concern with cats is the cat pee smell getting under the carpets or into the wood flooring and having to replace this expensive item. Pet owners will swear up and down their cat is housebroken, but many landlords have a blanket no-pet policy.

With dogs it is more serious, it is about aggression and liability. This turned out to have murderous consequences.

Why SF landlords are leery of dogs
You may have heard this story in the news. A lacrosse coach named Dianne Whipple was viciously mauled to death by two giant 'presa canario' dogs belonging to two arrogant and strange married lawyers. Yes, that was in San Francisco.

What is seldom reported is that the landlord had tried to evict the lawyers because of the many complaints. However, San Francisco rental laws offer heavy and strong protection to tenants once they are moved in and paying rent, and the attempt to evict was denied by the city. After the killing, the landlord was sued anyway for not evicting, even though he had tried but was legally prevented from doing so by the city.

This has made SF landlords very nervous about renting to dog owners. They fear that if your dog mauls someone, they cannot change the situation, and will be held responsible and may go to jail, lose the house, etc. etc.

Whether this is a reasonable fear or not, I wanted to make you aware of the ambiance and environment and nervousness that you are stepping into when there's a dog involved.

How to overcome landlord nervousness
The humorous thing is that you approach a nervous landlord the same way you approach a scared dog. You make gestures and motions that show you are ok.

When applying for a place, it's a good idea to bring the pooch so the landlord can see the dog is happy, friendly, non-aggressive. Before you leave your home town, gather as many written dog recommendations from believable people like your vet, certificates from any obedience schools, and get all your old landlords to vouch the dog caused no problems or complaints or damage to the apartment.

This all will go a long way to soothe the startled landlord.

If your pet is a kitty or a fishie, and the landlord seems hesitant when they hear you have a pet, consider asking if they accept a 'pet deposit' or a slightly higher rent in exchange for permission to have the pet. Be sure that your lease includes written permission for the pet.

Don't worry, he won't bite
Here's a tip for dog owners from someone formerly scared of all dogs. If your dog approaches someone who is scared of dogs, don't try to reassure them by saying "Oh, he's friendly", or "Oh, he won't bite". That only makes us madder!

To someone who is afraid of dogs, even the gentlest approach by a dog can be very scary. It is viewed as a potential attack, and visions of being mauled go through your head, even if the dog is smiling and wagging.

I know that comes as a surprise. But imagine this. Imagine that I lunge at you with a knife, and my mother comes out to reassure you and says "Don't worry, he won't stab you" as I continue to approach you. You don't care about verbal assurances! You just want me to get away from you. You just tremble as I keep swinging my knife in your direction. And you don't want me to worry!?!? Just get away from me!!!

You would much rather hear my mother say, "Alfredo! Come back here! Get away from there!". You would be relieved as I look behind me and obey my mother, and walk away from you.

This is the tack you have to take with people who are irrationally afraid of dogs. Don't say "He won't bite you". Do say "Fido! Come back here!"

Off-leash dogs
This is also another issue that became a brouhaha in the late '90s.

The city had ceded some parkland to the federal government so the Feds could make a National Park named Fort Funston out of a bit of southwest San Francisco. The Feds promised some language that seemed to let San Francisco laws regarding the enjoyment of the area take precedence, which includes SF laws allowing dogs to roam free.

Well, in the late '90s the Feds began to crack down and enforce Federal laws against leashless dogs in National Parks. There were roiling, boisterous, huge community meetings at the Presidio, which I attended to protest on behalf of my doggie friends, my neighbor's dogs Chester and Challie. Some kind of modus vivendi was reached, and as it stands now many rebellious dog owners go leashless at Fort Funston, fighting occasional enforcement by Federal lawmen and lawwomen. They even have unified and formed a web site called Fort Funston Dog, which is linked in my "What's shaking" page.

There was also a case where a leashless dog bit a cop's horse in Golden Gate Park, the horse threw off the cop, and the cop was injured. I don't remember the case clearly, but I think both the dog and the dog owner got in trouble for that. I'm not sure, but I think there was talk of killing the dog. It wasn't, but it was sent to southern California.

Following the Whipple and Fort Funston cases, there are now few areas where dogs are legally allowed to be offleash. For example, most of Golden Gate Park requires leashes.

You should be aware of this, and be aware that while chances you will be stopped are low, unless you can demonstrate to a cop that you have voice control of your dog you could get a ticket or worse. As always, a well-trained dog and a loving, responsible owner are good ingredients for having a happy life wherever they go.

The SF-SPCA
The local SPCA chapter has a no-kill policy and lots of wonderful little animal friends for adoption. The setting itself is very impressive, with clean, cute, expansive cat "apartments" that look like home settings, cat trees that are actually shaped like trees, televisions that play videos of birds and other kitty favorites, and lots of toys and socializing sessions. They have doggies too, of course, and a very nice and caring professional staff. They are worth supporting! There's a link to them in the "What's shaking" link page.

Confessions of a dog-o-phobe
I was bitten by a dog when I was a kid. As a result, I was afraid of dogs during my adult life. This was still true when I met my wonderful neighbors and their loving doggies Chester and Chalice. These neighbors tried not to laugh as I cowered when the dogs approached me to greet me happily and playfully. Little by little I learned what loving souls the doggies are, and thanks to them I eventually lost all fear of all dogs.
 

This page dedicated to Chalice and Chester

Copyright 1996-2006 Alfredo Jacobo Perez Gomez. All rights reserved. Use entirely at own risk.