The fate of family pets may seem a marginal issue given the scale of the housing crisis, but it matters hugely to those people affected.
For James Keaty and Teresa Fernandez, home until very recently for themselves and their three dogs was a battered Renault Twingo parked in a laneway adjacent to the M4 motorway in Palmerstown, west Dublin.
The couple say they have struggled with debt since losing their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic, and owning dogs rules them out of housing opportunities – both social housing and in the private rental sector.
Families who have to abandon their pets to take up rental housing face “unquantifiable distress”, Fine Gael TD Maeve O’Connell said in a parliamentary question to Minister for Housing James Browne.
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Browne agreed it was an “important question” – so much so that he included a provision in the Government’s housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, last year in relation to it.
“Effectively, I want to repeal the ban,” he told the Dáil. “People should not be prohibited from being able to bring their pet with them when they move into any house, in my view, but at least any house we have control over, which are social and affordable homes.”
There is a significant caveat though: the proposed repeal applies only to social and affordable housing and not to private rental accommodation, though this could be considered in the future, Browne’s spokeswoman says.
She says the Minister is “exercised at the idea people can’t have pets”.
Keaty and Fernandez say they have been struggling to find a home for several years.
He was a member of An Garda Síochana for eight years until resigning from the force following a drink driving conviction in 2006. His resignation, he says, was a measure of his shame at the seriousness of his error, which he has never repeated.
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Originally from New York city, where she worked as a cinema manager and horror make-up artist, Fernandez (45) moved to Ireland from Los Angeles in June 2016.
Keaty (47) met Fernandez seven years ago in September 2019 when she was the manager of a Dublin cinema. He then moved in with her into the apartment she was renting on Cork Street.
Then the pandemic hit, and both lost their jobs, they say.
“Everything spiralled,” says Keaty. “Our debts got bigger and bigger. As soon as they opened the eviction ban, we got a notice to quit.”
They moved temporarily to Longford, but finding permanent pet-friendly accommodation proved difficult.
Keaty says his family cannot accommodate them with their dogs.
The couple say they moved into their car, parking it in the laneway off Palmerstown Avenue where Mr Keaty grew up, believing it to be a temporary arrangement.
The couple and their three dogs, Buggy, Luna and Barkley, all have an allocated place to sleep in the car. Keaty is on the driver’s seat, Fernandez is on the passenger front seat with Buggy at her feet; Luna sleeps on the back seat, and Barkley is in the boot.
They say having to sleep in such cramped conditions, and in an unnatural posture, has caused them serious health problems. Mr Keaty says he developed deep vein thrombosis and a pulmonary embolism, and ended up with clots in both lungs. He spent nearly a month in hospital before Christmas.
Fernandez says she has been diagnosed with multiple conditions, including diabetes and high blood pressure.
“I can physically go back to New York, but my heart will always be here. I never had the chance to have children. This is an unorthodox version of a family – a partner and three dogs – but this is my family,” she says.
“I have gone through the absolute wringer. And it has not been easy. I remember being in the car many times, going to really dark places.”
Fernandez decided to go public late last year and set up an Instagram account, posting details of Keaty’s recent health travails.
“James was furious with me, but at that point I didn’t care. He could be as mad as he wanted. There’s no way on the face of this planet I was going to let him die in that car,” she says.
Mr Keaty adds: “We are working people, we are not freeloaders. I want to go back and contribute to this country that I love so much. I have served this country.”
The pair are deeply grateful for the help of a neighbour, Deborah Kenny, one of the founders of My Lovely Horse animal rescue charity. She has provided them with electricity for the last 2½ years, along with hot showers and laundry when they need it.
“I go to bed in my bedroom every night and I look out the window and behind the bushes are two people sleeping in a car with three dogs. The least I can do is give them electricity,” says Kenny.
She believes it is “an absolute disgrace” that “two good people” are faced with such a situation.
Kenny says the couple’s predicament is a societal issue because landlords are reluctant to allow pets on their properties. As a result, she says, My Lovely Horse pounds are overrun with dogs that have had to be given up by their owners.
“You should be allowed to have your pets with you. The rental situation needs to change. We are a backward country. Something needs to be done about this situation,” says Kenny.
The couple are hoping the kindness of strangers will help them out of their situation. A friend set up a GoFundMe account that gave them enough money to stay temporarily in the Travelodge in Swords in north Co Dublin – and a deposit, if private accommodation can be found.
Keaty has an application for social housing in with South Dublin County Council, but the dogs must come too, he says.
The council declined to comment, saying it does not discuss individual cases.
