How to Find Space for Pets at Home
-How to Find Space for Pets at Home-
Tampa Bay is known as a pet-friendly region. Considering the popularity of pets, our real estate team has tips to find space for pets at home, adopt new pets, or to find a new home with your growing fur-family of cats and dogs.
Adopting Pets in the Tampa Bay Area
Across Tampa Bay, there are many pet resource centers, shelters, and non-profit organizations. The holiday season stretches resources thin for many shelters relying on donations, which means adopting pets now or donating funds could mean saving a life. As a resource provided in several of our articles, we offer this short list of example shelters in our neighborhoods. Pets are waiting to be rescued at:
– Humane Society of Tampa Bay (Tampa)
– Hillsborough County Animal Services (Tampa)
– Humane Society of Pinellas (Clearwater)
– SPCA Tampa Bay (Largo)
– Pinellas County Animal Services (Largo)
– Friends of Strays Animal Shelter (St. Petersburg)
– Pasco County Animal Services (Land O’ Lakes)
– Humane Society of Pasco County (Spring Hill)
Places and Spaces to Enjoy with Dogs or Cats
Some of you may want to make more room for dogs or cats in your life. As pet-friendly real estate pros, we spent many years helping customers find places and spaces to enjoy with four-legged family members.
Fortunately, Tampa Bay is rated among the best places in the nation for pets. Our communities offer great walkability, parks, dog-friendly beaches, trails, and spacious homes for people to share with dogs and cats alike. Importantly, however, if searching for a new home, be sure to verify if any neighborhood associations or homeowner associations have restrictions regarding pets. Some places may include size or breed limits, fencing regulations, or noise ordinances.
Optimizing Homes with Pet-Friendly Areas
When settled in a happy home, there are also many things to consider for optimizing homes with pet-friendly areas. For example, consider these three updates:
- Reconfigure a back entrance or side door for pet traffic. Add hooks for hanging leashes and hang easy-to-access shelves or cabinets with towels and wipes for dirty paws.
- Add convenience with pet doors leading to the outside or interior spaces, such as a litter-box closet. Notably, do not install pet doors leading to a garage, as those are safety hazards.
- Create pet-friendly outdoor areas by building an enclosed or screened-in patio (a/k/a catio) for cats. Of course, a fenced-in backyard is also a fantastic addition for safety and playtime.
Whether you are a current pet parent or considering the adoption of a dog or cat, we hope these tips will help you optimize special pet areas and find space for pets at home.
If you need help finding a pet-friendly home, investing, downsizing, or selling your current property, contact Dick and Karla Nielsen at 813-294-5786 for advice.
