Should tenants have the right to have a pet in their unit?
One B.C. group thinks so, and is renewing its call to the province to change rules that let landlords ban pets from rental suites.
Pets OK BC said about five pets per day are surrendered to the BC SPCA because of housing issues.
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Group co-founder Eliot Galan said attempts to have tenancy rules allowing a “no pet” policy amended went nowhere with the previous BC Liberal government, and that the BC NDP seems equally uninterested.
“But it appears she’s really not taking this seriously.”
Amid Metro Vancouver’s housing crunch, the rules as they currently stand are forcing many people to make difficult decisions, Galan said.
“Some people put their pets on Craigslist, and there’s lots of people who ended up homeless because they were unwilling to give up their pets.”
WATCH: Pet owner demands changes to rental rules
Galan argued that issues with landlords can be resolved and that tenants with pets are no more likely to cause damage than those without.
He said the issue is finding responsible people to live in a unit, a matter he said does not relate to
whether they have pets or not.
The SPCA said about 1,700 pets were turned in last year because of housing issues alone, about the same number as in 2016.
A statement from the Ministry of Housing blamed the previous Liberal government for the lack of rental supply, and said the current NDP government is focusing on increasing affordable housing in B.C.