HIV+ Man’s Mood Stabilizing Dog Can Remain In ‘No Pets’ Apartment
Richard M. Blake, who’s been battling HIV for the last two years, was told by his doctor to get a support dog to help with his isolation and depression. So Blake brought in 11-year-old Kayla, a boxer mix, to live with him in his Brighton apartment. It worked! Blake started getting out of the house, losing weight, and his blood pressure dropped.
His landlord didn’t like it — and tried evicting him, just two months after giving Blake clearance to bring the dog in. That’s crap, ruled the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, which ordered Brighton Gardens LP to pay Blake $25,000 for an illegal attempt to oust Blake and his adorable pooch.
While I do think that the “support animal” designation often gets abused by pet owners to ignore “no pets” regulations or just in-general be rude and inconsiderate to their fellow citizens, in this case there appears to be demonstrable evidence of therapeutic benefit.
Besides, who can resist a cute puppy-dog….
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Totally disagree with that ruling. It’s cool that he’s found such an easy and effective method of therapy. It’s not cool that he now gets to shit on (or let his dog shit on) every other tenant’s right to live in an animal-free building. (Many tenants pay extra to live in such a building, btw.)
The correct outcome would be for the landlord to allow him to terminate his contract with no penalty, so he can get an apartment that legitimately permits animals.
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@caffesilvia: There was no mention of an animal-free building. There was mention of a no-pets lease. Which is different.
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Poor Guy!What a douche landlord!Wonder why he changed his mind so soon??? Maybe they can upgrade with the $$$ hehehehe