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A Calgary dog owner is looking to spark change to rules around pets in rental properties as many across the city face challenges finding a place to live.
Pierre Noiseux has been looking for a new place to live for six months, but finds his applications are turned down when landlords find out about his two-year-old dog Stark.
“He’s a pitbull mix, so trying to find a rental is impossible,” Noiseux told Global News. “You send a picture of your pet and they take one look and are like, ‘No thank you.'”
Noiseux, who trained dogs to help pay for his post-secondary education, said his frustration with the rental market prompted him to launch a petition to prohibit rental properties in Calgary from banning pets.
He said rentals that allow pets in Calgary outnumber property listings with pet bans 10 to one.
“I’ve had 100 ‘nos’, and I’m at the point now where I’m saying screw it, I’m going to use my money to buy a camper and live in a trailer park,” he said.
In Alberta, landlords have the right to decide whether or not to allow pets in their rental properties. The landlord may also charge a pet fee if animals are allowed in the rental property.
“The number one barrier to us finding suitable housing right now is having animals,” Courtney Townsend told Global News. “It’s not fair and it’s discriminatory.”
Townsend, a single mother of two, has also been looking for a new home for a number of months, and noted surrendering her dogs would be a last resort.
Although she has accommodation sorted out for her family over the summer, pets aren’t allowed, so she is looking for a foster to care for her two dogs until she can secure a long-term rental.
“I’m still looking for a safe place for my dogs Bowie and Theo while we’re finding a new home,” she said.
According to the Calgary Humane Society, surrendering pets to secure a place to live is a growing issue in the city.
“In 2022, we saw just under 70 animals be surrendered for no pet housing. In 2023, that number was close to 200,” said Anna-Lee Fitzsimmons with the humane society. “Today, in 2024, no pet housing is the number one reason why people have to surrender their pet.”
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation showed a 1.4 per cent rental vacancy rate in Calgary last year, and forecasts that number to drop to 1.1 per cent this year, to one per cent in 2025.
Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott said barriers like pet ownership are becoming more pronounced in the current housing crisis.
“The reason why this is happening is more and more people are treating housing as an investment property that they’re trying to protect from any possible damage,” Walcott told reporters. “I understand that and I sympathize with that, but that is kind of the core of the problem.”
Walcott said it’s a balancing act for landlords to protect the property while also allowing people to “live their full life,” with levers like damage deposits.
“Increasing some of the more basic protections for the homeowner, sometimes it’s nothing more than just making sure the deposits are the right amount,” Walcott said. “There are lots of ways to approach this to allow people to actually live a full life in these homes.”
In a statement to Global News, a spokesperson for Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Minister Dale McNally said although the Residential Tenancies Act is not currently being reviewed, these barriers could be part of a future review.
“We are aware of concerns from some Albertans about pets and pet fees and these issues will be further explored as part of any future review,” the statement said.
Fitzsimmons suggests there are better alternatives landlords can take rather than an outright ban on pets, including education around what is defined as a “responsible pet owner.”
“Starting with a spay and neuter certificate is a good place to start, asking to meet the animal before they move in is also a really nice thing to do,” Fitzsimmons told Global News. “Every dog is different, there is such a varying degree in behaviour regardless of type of dog, regardless of breed.”
来源链接：
https://globalnews.ca/news/10465916/calgarian-petition-pets-rental-housing/
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