BCSPCA Develops Rental Tool Kit for Pet Owners
Sunday, June 29, 2008 03:52 AM
submitted by Kathi Travers
People with pets have a new tool in the arsenal to find pet-friendly housing in B.C.
The BC SPCA has produced an online rental toolkit that helps pet guardians locate housing that offers a welcome mat to both people and their pets, and sets a high standard for pet care and responsibility in multiple-family dwellings.
“The lack of pet-friendly housing in this province is a major issue for our organization,” said Lorie Chortyk, the society’s general manager of community relations. “More than 2,500 companion pets a year are surrendered to our shelters by people who can’t find housing that will permit their pets.”
The toolkit is primarily aimed at renters, but it also promotes the inclusion of pet-friendly housing in strata units. Simply put, says Chortyk, pets benefit society and prohibiting them does a disservice to all renters, homeowners, landlords and strata councils alike.
For example, she notes, people with pets stay longer and pay more rent -- between 20 and 30 per cent more -- than people without pets; pets provide increased security to a building when their guardians exercise them, as well as when left alone inside a unit; and pets reduce feelings of loneliness, anxiety and stress in people.
Still, pet-friendly rental stock is slim in B.C., with only five per cent of rental suites or 
condominiums officially allowing dogs, and approximately nine per cent allowing cats. Most renters with pets face an even greater uphill battle when the province’s low rental vacancy rate of roughly 1.0 per cent is taken into consideration.
condominiums officially allowing dogs, and approximately nine per cent allowing cats. Most renters with pets face an even greater uphill battle when the province’s low rental vacancy rate of roughly 1.0 per cent is taken into consideration.“We receive calls every day from people who are upset because they aren’t able to find a place to rent with their pets,” says Chortyk. “Too often, the only choice they are left with is to give up their pets. This is devastating for the pet guardian and for the animals who have spent their entire lives with one family.”
Former BC SPCA board member Kara Kingston helped prepare the society’s new online rental toolkit. Several years ago, Kingston and her Doberman pinscher, Ambra, (shown in photo at right) experienced firsthand the challenges of finding pet-friendly housing in Vancouver. Twice, she moved into rental suites in strata-controlled buildings, only to be told shortly after she’d unpacked her boxes and rolled a fresh coat of paint on the walls that she had to leave because the strata rules prohibited Ambra.
“The owners of the suites met Ambra and allowed us to be there, and I had even signed the proper pet agreements, but the strata bylaws superseded any other rules,” said Kingston. “I remember this sense of panic about where I was going to live.”
Kingston found that even where dogs were permitted, existing size and breed conditions restricted pets in the residence to lapdogs; at 85 pounds and 28 inches tall, Ambra was considered an undesirable tenant, even though she was a quiet and well-behaved dog. So distraught was Kingston that she thought she might have to surrender Ambra back to the SPCA, where she adopted the docile Dobie from in the first place.
After months of searching for pet-friendly rental housing, Kingston finally gave up looking and bought her own condo in a pet-friendly complex whose strata bylaws were silent on dog size and breed.
But not everyone can afford to enter the real estate market. Kingston’s advice to others in similar predicaments? “Don’t give up. Put together a pet resumé, let the landlord meet your pet, be an open and responsible pet guardian and know how to prove it.”
The BC SPCA’s online Rental Toolkit can help. Visit www.spca.bc.ca/rentaltoolkit for quick facts, landlord and tenant FAQs, a list of questions for landlords to ask while interviewing prospective tenants, a sample pet policy, pet registration form and pet resumé, a letter from the BC SPCA and an electronic PowerPoint presentation to deliver to stakeholder groups.
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Posted by: Eagleone on June 29 2008 7:18 AM