7 dogs? F no

Casadena

Dear Prudence, 

I own my house. My partner was renting until the complex was found to have mold and he needed to leave. We have been serious for a while so it made sense for him to move in with me. The problem is I am extremely allergic to dogs and cats, and his kids (23, 20, and 17) refuse to leave their dogs behind anywhere—for any reason.

And they will use fake service vests to try to get their animals into places like hotels or even movie theaters. My partner wants them to come and stay with us for two weeks and tells me it will not be so bad if I just take an allergy pill every day or the dogs will stay outside and downstairs.

I want to put my foot down and say no way in hell. I love my house and put a lot of effort into maintaining it. I saw pictures of how his oldest let his dogs trash the apartment that he was renting and what the backyard of their mother’s place looked like. And there are seven of these beasts! I have offered to help pay for a dog sitter or kennel for the animals, but the kids refuse to leave any of the animals behind. Is this a reasonable boundary?

—Dog Gone

VarunaTT

You said no and it's a complete sentence.  Sounds like he can visit his kids on his own.  I miiiiiiight do it for a night, but two weeks?  No and I'm an animal lover.  

banana468

Nope.

Also, they're abusing the system and the reason people don't trust service dogs.  Nope. 

short+sassy

Dogs can do a lot of damage in a short time frame.  "Partner, your children's failure to figure this out themselves or compromise does not constitute an emergency on my part.  Plus 7 dogs in one house is completely ridiculous."

Most cities also have rules for how many animals can be in one household and 7 dogs will be far above that.

It's always very sketch when a person has more than one service dog or emotional support animal (rentals only).  Technically a person can have more than one service dog, but I believe each dog needs to perform a different service.  A proprietor can't ask about someone's specific medical conditions, but they can ask what service each dog performs unless it is obvious.  But businesses in the US are so afraid of lawsuits, they won't usually challenge someone on this.