Topic: Does your community accept Monkeys?????

I have been in the business for about 15 years, and today was the first time I received a request for approval to have a monkey as a pet! Really?!?!?!?!? I mean, I hear about cats, dogs, fish, birds, and maybe even a ferret, but a monkey????

I would love to hear how many more people have received weird pet requests...

Monkeys? :ohmy:

I've never had that request, but we have a weight limit and a requirement of only "mature" pets, no kittens, puppies, etc. This rules out any aggressive dog breeds at my current community, but I had a pit bull on my previous property that was a companion animal for an autistic child.

I suppose we would permit a pet monkey if it otherwise met the requirements, or if it was a service/companion animal.

Exotic animal permits are no longer issued in my state, so there are not many left. I remember as a child I once saw someone walking a lion (!) across the street and into a vet clinic. I know someone who has an African Lynx (medium sized cat.) The lynx is about 3-4 times larger than the average house cat but it thinks it's a lap kitty. Occasionally I'd see pet monkeys, and my daughter was once bitten by one.

We did get a call from a woman with 12 companion ferrets. She claimed each one was necessary for her health and asked for a reasonable accommodation. I found out later she had called every complex around and none found her request to be "reasonable."

In my community we have lots of small dogs and house cats, a few snakes, gerbils, rats, ferrets, and one rescued squirrel that fell out of the tree by my office.

I think monkeys are cute! :cheer:

I have not had anyone request a monkey for a pet... I have, however, seen a reasonable accomodation request for a monkey as a service animal. This request had to be approved as the monkey was trained to do things for a resident without the use of his HANDS.... It's the opposable thumb thing... The resident also had a human caregiver come in a few hours a week to prepare meals, do general housework, and transport for medical appointments, etc.

Has anyone had to exempt an animal as a pet when the resident is training it to be a service animal?

I recently heard of a woman here in Va who has a service horse; a mini-horse. That's a pretty tricky one for the apartment community as well as the local government as most multi-family communities are not in areas zoned agricultural. Glad I wasn’t the manager that was faced with that decision :)

I have waived fees for a resident who works with service animals. The main reason is these are not pets. They are dogs being trained to work. Most service animals spend anywhere from 6 months to a year with their trainer. Many times they go through several different trainers. I myself have a certified therapy dog that comes to work with me on occasion, but only for a few hours at a time. I haven't brought him in in a while because we've been too busy. Everyday I hear "when is Harry coming back" so I will be bringing him in tomorrow. While my community does allow small pets, many of my seniors are fans of large breed dogs. My mutt is a rotti x shar-pi x GSD so he fills the void for those missing a big dog :)

I think that if the animal is a service/companion animal; it MUST be considered, regardless of any 'pet' guidelines you may have in place. The question is at what point is the reasonable accommodation request for a service animal not considered reasonable?

Unfortunately, a request for a reasonable accommodation can only be considered if the resident or prospect asks. We cannot volunteer to consider or consider accepting a companion animal or any other accommodation without it.

While disabled renters are protected, trainers of companion animals are not. Therefore it is discrimination against other non-disabled renters if they are prohibited from having an animal and a non-disabled service animal trainer is permitted to. I've actually seen this one.

This link may assist with the questions at hand. Each state is a little different, but I found this link to be very informative even with some court cases!

www.animallaw.info/articles/ovusfaqhousingand%20pets.htm