Answer: If you are a rent stabilized tenant, then the provisions of your original lease or any subsequent lease would apply if they contained a provision permitting pets or if there was no mention of pets. This is so even if new tenants are not allowed to have pets and even if one of your subsequent leases contains a no-pet clause. Landlords may not change the terms of a rent stabilized tenant’s lease to take away a right the tenant already had. Thoroughly read (or have an attorney read) your leases to see if there is a no-pet clause. Even if your original lease contains a no-pet restriction, you still should be able to have a pet as a result of your disability. However, that would entail getting a letter from your psychiatrist indicating why he/she is prescribing a dog for your disability. You would then need to provide the letter to your landlord requesting a reasonable accommodation based on your disability. While some landlords still pursue cases against tenants with disabilities claiming that the disability or the need for the animal is not significant enough, tenants suffering from depression who have been under the care of a psychiatrist for several years would normally win such cases. According to Karen Copeland, a New York City/Long Island attorney who represents people facing eviction for having animals, "Under the Federal Fair Housing Act and New York State Human Rights Law, a person with any mental or physical impairment may be entitled to a reasonable accommodation which can include the non-enforcement of a rule or lease provision, including a no-pet clause. What would be required to request this reasonable accommodation would be a letter from a medical professional stating the person's diagnosis and things the animal would do to facilitate the person's dealing with the limitations of his or her disabling condition."