"Hey everyone, I'm new to the area and am looking for a rental, ASAP... one that accepts inside animals.

"Real estates are knocking me back on my honesty.

"Any suggestions and help would be much appreciated ty..."

The other side of the coin?

An ad for a local rental, a "delightful home" with "a fully enclosed back yard ... Strictly NO PETS".

The tight squeeze in the Orange rental market has property owners in the box seat when it comes to choosing who can and can't occupy their house.

And for pet owners that is bad news, as there is generally not a lot of upside in allowing birds, cats, dogs or reptiles to rent the property along with humans.

The result is that potential renters are left to post on social media in the hope someone will know someone who knows someone who is fond of dogs.

Less than 50 properties in Orange are currently listed for rent via online sites, and anecdotally both locals and newcomers are struggling to find a place to live.

In a city of 41,000, this roughly equates to one rental for every 830 people.

By comparison, there were more than 25,000 rentals available in Sydney, or one for every 200 people.

A search on casual rental site Airbnb for a random date next month - November 2-4 - showed 145 available listings in and around Orange.

Erin Marr from McCormack Barber real estate agency said the situation in Orange had improved slightly from a fortnight ago, when only about 20 properties in total were listed for rent, but that "it's still very tough".

"I'm really feeling for a lot of tenants," she said.

"It's nothing against pets, it's just that owners have got so much choice when selecting a tenant that they will take the one that poses less risk.

"If you've got 10 applications - and we're getting a lot more for properties - and four have pets, then it makes it really hard."

Some open houses are attracting dozens of people.

The RSPCA's T'mielle Bunt said "we do always get people needing to surrender because they're moving into a property that doesn't allow pets".

But she said it was sporadic, and that there hadn't been a noticeable increase in recent months in people surrendering their pets.

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