Woman Asks to Keep Horse in Apartment

[cali]

By DAVE GRAM – 1 day ago

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — 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.

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http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h7DTRt3AdG45-yNxIZs2Ah1FG6eQD8SSD6V80