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Pet-friendly housing ‘left out in the cold’ by Rental Housing Task Force report

Pets OK BC says that the issue of pet-friendly housing has been “left out in the cold” by the Rental Housing Task Force.

A report released by the task force outlines their findings from province-wide engagement where landlords, renters, and stakeholders provided feedback on rental housing in B.C.

<who>Photo Credit: File photo

While pet-friendly housing was one of the larger issues, along with affordability, the task force said it was “not persuaded that requiring all rental housing providers to allow pets would be fair for landlords or for renters who want or need to live in pet-free buildings.”

The advocacy group says that the report was “disheartening” for families with pets across B.C., as the issue was left out in the final report.

“This will mean thousands of companion animals will continue to be surrendered and abandoned due to housing related issues for the foreseeable future in B.C.,” the group said in a statement today.

“Pets OK BC had high hopes that the voices of tens of thousands of tenants with pets across B.C. would be heard in the Task Force’s recommendations. After two years of raising awareness, gathering over 15,000 paper petition signatures, and 75,000 online signatures, rallies, and lobbying the provincial government on behalf of families with pets, they are feeling they have been given the short end of the stick.”

In the report, the task force acknowledges that they received more than twice the number of online comment submissions related to pet-friendly housing than any other issue, including affordability.

The issue of pet-friendly housing garnered 505 comments, while affordability received 212 comments. However, the report also notes that an unnamed advocacy group encouraged supporters to comment on the issue.

<who>Photo Credit: Rental Housing Task Force

“The high number of pet-related comments may be due to a campaign by one advocacy organization that encouraged people to comment on this issue. The anomaly of receiving such a high number of pet-related comments online, compared to other issues, is further underscored by reviewing comments received during the in-person community meetings, where the topic of pets garnered far fewer comments compared to other issues,” says the report.

Pets OK BC says they deny any such campaign, and maintain that the results were purely organic.

“It is not surprising that pets are the number one issue because they overlap with a lot of other issues such as affordability, accessibility, and safety,” Pets OK BC said. “To discount the role they have in our housing and society based on assumptions about groups encouraging people to comment, when it is part of the democratic process, is irresponsible.”

Despite the disappointing report, Pets OK BC says that it has not given up in its efforts to create more pet and family-friendly housing in B.C.

They were waiting to see if the government would take action based on the interests of families with pets across B.C., but now they will pursue other avenues to try and achieve a fairer housing system for renters, like Ontario has had in place for the past three decades.

“It doesn’t end here. We have created a tremendous community of supporters across the province who still have to live within the current exclusive and inequitable system. They still need pet-friendly housing, so we’ll keep fighting for them.”

To read the full report, click here.



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