Two pets, one apartment

For pet owners living in apartments in Hesperia, there were two conflicting sets of rules: The city said pet owners could have a single dog and a single cat, while many landlords were saying that tenants could have two of one or two of the other. Tuesday night, the Hesperia City Council changed the ordinance to match landlords' existing policies.

"The council voted 5-0 to make a small amendment to the development code for the types of animals we allow in apartments," city spokeswoman Kelly Malloy said Thursday. "The ordinance [previously] said you can have a maximum of one dog and one cat; they changed it to say you can have a maximum of two animals."

In other words, the city now recognizes what many pet-owners and landlords have known for a while: A dog and a cat living together in a small apartment is often less realistic than two cats or two dogs living together.

The city's animal control officers suggested the change, after hearing from residents.

"So they did a survey of most apartments in the city, and the found out that most landlords allowed two pets," said Malloy. "We just followed the policies that the apartments are enforcing right now."

The old ordinance is a county ordinance that Hesperia adopted after incorporating as a city in 1988.

The next regular meeting of the Hesperia City Council will take place on Feb. 16 at 6:30 p.m. at Hesperia City Hall, 9700 Seventh Avenue.

Beau Yarbrough can be reached at 760-956-7108 or at beau@hesperiastar.com. Follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/Hesperia.Star