Displaced Again: Hotel Housing Columbus’ Homeless Pet Owners Shuts Down Over Safety Concerns
This past weekend, nearly 30 Columbus residents and their pets were forced to pack up and leave—again.
The Loyalty Inn, a hotel on the city’s Southeast Side, was abruptly shuttered after years of safety violations, crime concerns, and city scrutiny. For the group of homeless individuals who had been temporarily housed there with support from the Community Shelter Board, it was the second time in just a few months they were uprooted—first from encampments the city cleared in December, and now from the only shelter that allowed them to stay with their animals.
The Loyalty Inn had long been a troubled property. Declared a public nuisance in 2021 by the Franklin County Environmental Court, it was under court order to make improvements. But by 2025, little had changed. Columbus police had been called to the hotel roughly 100 times over the last year. A recent inspection by the State Fire Marshal found 17 fire code violations.
“This is a really challenging case for us because we're in between a rock and a hard place,” said City Attorney Zach Klein. “God forbid, something would happen... we would be open to genuine criticism of why didn’t you do more.”
In partnership with the City Attorney’s Property Action Team, the current owner agreed to shut the hotel down. Klein’s office had hoped to delay the closure until the end of March—the scheduled end of the Community Shelter Board’s housing program—but the owner opted to close early, leaving residents scrambling with little time to prepare.
Pets Were the Barrier—and the Lifeline
The individuals housed at the Loyalty Inn were there because traditional shelters do not accept pets, and many of these residents refused to be separated from their animals.
Alternative housing options were offered when the hotel closed, but most declined. Some were told they could enter traditional shelters—if they agreed to send their pets to the Franklin County Animal Shelter. For these residents, that wasn’t an option.
For people experiencing homelessness, pets provide comfort, safety, emotional support, and a sense of responsibility. They are family. And the bond is often unbreakable.
Many of the displaced residents chose instead to return to outdoor living. Others turned to friends or family. But none were given a long-term housing solution.
“This situation highlights the critical shortage of deeply affordable housing,” said Níel Jurist, spokesperson for the Community Shelter Board. “If adequate housing were available, hotels and motels would not be utilized for emergency shelter options.”
The Real Issue: A System That Doesn’t Fit Real Lives
This incident is more than a failure of one hotel—it’s a failure of systems that don’t account for the reality that people experiencing homelessness are not always alone. Many have pets. And for those who do, options are limited or nonexistent.
No one should have to choose between shelter and staying with the animal who means everything to them.
What Needs to Happen
To prevent this cycle from repeating, we need:
Pet-inclusive emergency shelters and transitional housing.
Long-term investments in deeply affordable housing.
Trauma-informed approaches that treat pets not as barriers, but as vital companions.
Emergency contingency plans for closures like this one, to avoid sudden displacement.
Until then, too many of our neighbors will continue to fall through the cracks.
How You Can Help
Support local advocacy groups fighting for affordable housing and pet-inclusive sheltering.
Donate to the Community Shelter Board or local pet rescue groups that assist unhoused individuals.
Speak up: urge local officials to prioritize co-sheltering in emergency shelter systems.
The people and pets displaced from the Loyalty Inn deserved better—and so will the next group if we don’t make changes now.
Source Columbia Dispatch
