Beatrice renters, pet owners face housing difficulty

Mary Albers loves her dogs - five purebred Springer Spaniels ranging in age from four to 14 years.

Though Albers tried for years with her husband to find a nice rental home in or around Beatrice, she only found negative feelings toward her beloved dogs.

After living all over the United States for different careers, Albers said her husband, Richard Engler, wanted more than anything to return to his old stomping grounds of Beatrice.

“We searched and searched,” she said.

She had two Springer Spaniels at the time. One was seven years old and one was just five months old, and both were house-trained, she said.

“After searching for a place to rent for almost a month, we gave up on Beatrice due to the unfriendly and unwelcome response toward pets by the property owners,” she said.

Eventually, the couple settled in Fremont, about a two-hour drive north of Beatrice.

They stayed for a year, Engler still wanting to be closer to his Beatrice home.

Albers didn’t understand why property owners were against pets.

“My dogs are better behaved than some children. Most people that have pets are very responsible people,” she said.

Albers and Engler promised Beatrice property owners to pay property damage if it occurred and would pay an extra pet deposit if necessary.

“’We just don’t allow pets.’ That’s all they’d say. They had their rules and that was it,” she said.

Lori Warner, president of the Beatrice Area Chamber of Commerce, said she hasn’t heard comments from either side on the situation.

“This is the first time I’ve heard they’ve had difficulty renting,” she said.

She said the Chamber does not offer a list of pet-friendly rentals as to not promote one way or the other, but the Chamber does give a list of possible rentals in the area.

“It’s their job to go to the owner for special requests,” she said.

Leaving her dogs behind was not an option for Mary, so she had to move on from Beatrice.

“There was no way that I would leave (my dog),” she said.

Finally, a rental opened up in Tecumseh. Though it wasn’t their first choice, the couple moved onto the acreage and have been there for 11 years.

On June 18, 2005, Engler passed away.

Though it was her husband who always pushed for moving back to Beatrice, Albers said she wouldn’t mind moving back if property owners would open their hearts and minds to pet owners.

“I enjoy shopping in Beatrice. I enjoy being there. The people are just not kind about animals,” she said.

Gina Grone, Beatrice Humane Society executive director and volunteer coordinator, said she understands the difficulty of finding a rental home with pets.

Grone has three cats.

“I was fortunate,” she said about moving to Beatrice to work at the Beatrice Daily Sun in September of 2006.

The woman she was replacing had a rental property with pets.

Grone said she also understands the property owners’ side.

“Try to look at it from the landlord's point of view. They have probably been burned a time or two by irresponsible pet owners who left a lot of damage behind,” she said.

Connley Waltke, a Beatrice rental property owner, said he and his wife, Lavona, allow pets in their properties.

“When you have the number that we do, which is quite a few, the demand is so high. Almost everybody has pets,” Lavona said.

The Waltkes require a $100 deposit for pet-owners, which they think is quite reasonable.

“I’ve heard that in Omaha they charge $180,” Connley said.

The Waltkes also ask property owners to spay or neuter their pets, or declaw them if they have cats.

“We ask, but we don’t ask them to prove it,” Lavona said, saying many rental properties in larger cities ask for proof from a veterinarian that the surgeries have taken place.

Connley’s father, who owned the properties before the Waltkes took them over, had an irresponsible dog owner who let the dog scratch and chew up the wood work.

“It was pretty beat up,” Connley said.

Grone said that the shelter might look into putting a list of pet-friendly rentals on its Web site, but she didn’t think there was any services around town to find pet-friendly rentals.

At the animal shelter, Grone has seen pets returned because the pet rules were not clear on their lease, and the landlord refused pets on his or her property.

“We do see that occasionally,” she said. “Some people will take in a pet, but didn’t realize they weren’t allowed to have it.”

To counteract this problem, Grone said the application for adopting a pet from the shelter includes a spot for the landlord’s name and telephone number if the property is rented. The shelter employees will follow up on the application, making sure that animals are allowed by that owner.

“Obviously we would love for there to be more rentals open to pet owners. When people are forced to move because of job or life changes, and they can’t find a place for their pets to go, the pets have to be re-homed or relinquished to shelters if room is available,” she said.

“So if you do find a pet-friendly rental, make sure that you treat the property with respect and really work on controlling your pets,” Grone said. “This will make it easier for the next person who's new in town and doesn’t want to give up his or her pets.”