D.C., Stand Up for Pet-Friendly Housing

Washington, D.C. B25-0827—Pets in Housing Act of 2024

ASPCA Position: Support

Update — March 28, 2025: This bill just became law! Thank you for each action you took in support of this bill and efforts to make D.C.'s housing truly pet friendly.

This new law will help families find and keep homes that welcome their beloved pets. It increases housing stability for renters and removes barriers to owning pets in rental housing by capping pet deposits and pet rent, prohibiting certain restrictions on common household pets, and removing breed restrictions. Additionally, it will ensure that unhoused individuals have access to pet-friendly shelters.

Why pet-friendly housing is important

Pet owners face huge barriers when searching for a home. Renters, especially lower-income renters, are more likely to have to rehome their pets due to housing issues than for any other reason. When renters do find housing that allows pets, it often comes with costly upfront pet deposits and/or ongoing pet-related fees. When added to other housing-related expenses, such as moving, security deposits and application fees, these costs have a devastating impact on people who are already struggling to find cost-appropriate housing.

Pets are considered part of the family by most people, yet an increasing number of pet owners are being forced to surrender their animals due to restrictive and costly housing policies. It’s severing precious bonds and flooding animal shelters and rescues with pets who could have remained with their families if these barriers didn’t exist. Passing this bill would be a huge step toward eliminating barriers to keeping pets at home with the people who love them.

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Advocacy Alert

Your Message

Subject Please Support the Pets in Housing Act of 2024

Dear Councilmember,

Message

As a D.C. resident, I am asking you to please affirm your support the Pets in Housing Act of 2024 on December 17th to advance equity, improve affordability and open doors for renters with pets across D.C. The high cost of housing in the District affects families in a variety of adverse ways, including putting families in a position where they are forced to choose between keeping their pet or keeping a roof over their head. As housing instability has increased, the upfront pet-specific costs and the pet-related restrictions are regularly cited as a reason why people relinquish their pet to already over-capacity animal shelters.

We also encourage the Council to move an expansion of the bill’s scope in 2025 to ensure that breed restrictions in insurance underwriting aren’t a barrier is a missing piece that will make this effort successful and ensure that renters, homeowners and landlords have access to insurance coverage for all dogs/pets. We ask that you support this addition to the bill.

Pet-inclusive housing options are essential to keeping pets and people together. Those who are willing and able to care for their pets should not be faced with the impossible decision of relinquishing their beloved animals due to a lack of housing options.

Once again, I ask that you please support the passage of the Pets in Housing Act of 2024 this year to ensure that the excessive barriers imposed by landlords to renters with pets doesn’t force families to make a decision to give up an important member of their family.

Sincerely,

[First Name] [Last Name]
[Your Address]

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