Dear the great state of New South Wales,
I would like a pet for Christmas, please. I’ve been really very good all year, gone to bed when you’ve enforced curfew, made sure I kept my room tidy, and done all my chores with minimal whinging. I’ve not stomped my feet when you’ve told me to turn the music down, and I’ve tried not to huff when you told me you’d take care of the dogs and then went back on that promise, or when you keep putting the price of board up.
I really, truly have been well-behaved. And as such, I believe you should let me have a pet in my rental home.
My lovely cousins down in Melbourne got told this week that they could keep a pet in their rental homes, so I think it’s only fair that you let me bring in an animal without being told no by the people that I rent my (probably over-priced and suspiciously subdivided) unit from.
Have you thought about how many animals are living in shelters, slowly but surely edging toward the big needle because nobody will take them in?
According to the NSW RSPCA, 15% of all animals that are given up are there because of people that can’t keep them in a rental. We can help that get to zero.
Of all the animals surrendered between 2015 and 2016, 13% of dogs, 26% of cats, and 29% of other animals were put down; mostly due to medical and behavioural reasons. Maybe if you let me – let us – have a pet in our homes, this number can reduce.
I’m not asking that you let me have a menagerie in my three-bedder in the Inner West (though it is a life dream of mine to live on a farm with a bunch of animals), but please consider letting me take in a lovely greyhound or maybe a snuggly little cat who is just a little bit naughty.
Yours,
A Gal Who’s Getting A Little Desperate At The Dog Park
PS. I promise to house train them, and they won’t chew up your favourite socks.
If you’ve already got a little bundle of fur, take care of them with pet insurance from petinsurance.com.au. Grab cover over HERE and cop the first two months free.
