The BC SPCA is urging the province to address a seeming lack of rental housing that allows pets.
The organization said there is not enough pet-friendly housing, especially for dogs, in B.C.
It’s something a new Vancouverite experienced last summer.
“When you put a filter to find a house with pets, your options would decrease from 100 to 50, like, cut by half. And you can also see the rent (prices) are double, usually,” Kushal Methea said.
“I moved here from Seattle in the summer. It took me about a month and a half to find a (dog-friendly) place.”
The SPCA said it would like to see the issue addressed ahead of the coming fall provincial election.
“We are seeing an increase in pets being surrendered for housing reasons. It’s actually consistently the number one reason for the surrender of healthy, loved adult animals in British Columbia,” said Sarah Herring, government relations officer with the BC SPCA.
In Ontario, it’s illegal for landlords to ban tenants from having pets and there have been some efforts to bring the same rules into B.C.
In 2020, the previous Vancouver City Council passed a motion banning the ‘no pets’ clause in residential contracts. It had little impact because the province never amended the Residential Tenancy Act.
However, the SPCA is stopping short of calling for pet-friendly rentals.
“I don’t think the BC SPCA has all the answers, that’s why we’re asking the government to bring stakeholders together to find collaborative solutions,” Herring said.
Other election priorities include making microchips a requirement for all pets, and for the province to provide support allowing pet food to be offered at food banks.
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