Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Woman Asks to Keep Horse in Apartment (VT)
Associated Press ^ | November 12, 2007 | Dave Gram

Posted on 11/12/2007 7:04:00 PM PST by yorkie

Patty Cooper's landlord normally welcomes tenants who use animals to help them get around, such as guide dogs for the blind. So after the disabled woman bought a 32-inch-tall miniature horse to pull her wheelchair, she asked to keep the animal in her home. When her landlord rejected the request, she filed a human rights complaint.

Cooper, 50, paid $1,000 for the 1-year-old gelding named Earl, expecting to use it for trips to the bus stop and into town. The agency that owns the apartment complex in Waitsfield denied her proposal, citing concern about horse droppings, hay storage and lack of grazing space.

Cooper insists the 100-pound tobiano pinto can be house-trained and said it "just makes me so happy whenever I'm around him. I'm not lonely anymore."

The landlord has told Cooper the horse would have to be kept elsewhere—not in the 4-by-6 stall she designed in her living room. For now, Earl is staying at a farm owned by a friend in neighboring Warren, where Cooper visits and trains him.

The case has drawn national attention since The Associated Press reported on it last month as an example of disabled people using animals other than guide dogs for the blind.

Cooper, 50, has celiac disease, a disorder in which exposure to a protein called gluten destroys the ability of the small intestine to absorb nutrients and can cause brittle bones. Cooper, who broke her back for a second time four years ago, uses a wheelchair most of the time.

[snip]But the agency is weighing the specifics of Cooper's request, particularly whether Earl could be trained to relieve himself only when taken outside every three hours.

Also, the apartment complex has no place to graze a horse,

(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Humor; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: disabled; horse
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-45 last
To: HairOfTheDog

That’s good! Hope the pony powders did their cheerful work during the bad bits (maybe you could have used some yourself?) ;-)


41 posted on 11/13/2007 9:53:51 AM PST by AnAmericanMother ((Ministrix of Ye Chase, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment)))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: AnAmericanMother

I didn’t give them any... it was a daytime storm and the horses were OK, if miserable. When it’s blowing hard they don’t like being in the barn, with all the trees around it’s not really safe, and they don’t like the limbs breaking and hitting the roof. They’re free to run out. They spent the storm out in the middle of the pasture, and I spend it in the truck, watching the house from a safe distance myself.


42 posted on 11/13/2007 10:10:59 AM PST by HairOfTheDog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: AnAmericanMother

err... “spent it”.

And yes, I could have used some Quiet Pony Powder. :~)


43 posted on 11/13/2007 10:12:05 AM PST by HairOfTheDog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: HairOfTheDog
Wow. It's enough to make you want to dig an underground garage to park yourself and the truck in until the fun's over.

One very useful feature for homes hereabouts is a tornado shelter. We have had a tornado pass directly over each of our homes - my childhood home, our first house, and the house we live in now. Fortunately in each case the storm 'skipped', but you never know where they will touch down.

Hubby has the plans for an in-basement shelter when we sell this large house and build a little one out in the country. Basically, you build a steel-and-concrete room in the SW corner of your basement. We'll keep the guns and reloading equipment in there too, and have fold down bunks and a radio for tornado warnings.

44 posted on 11/13/2007 11:27:33 AM PST by AnAmericanMother ((Ministrix of Ye Chase, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment)))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: Daffynition; AdmSmith; Berosus; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Fred Nerks; ...

Cat warns of carbon monoxide
Gazzetteinline.com | November 15. 2007 | Adam Belz
Posted on 11/17/2007 4:21:02 PM EST by Daffynition
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1927267/posts

...plus, the cat is tired of steppin’ around the horse piles.


45 posted on 11/17/2007 4:21:05 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Saturday, November 17, 2007'''':''''1'''':'''https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-45 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson