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Dartmouth dog owner calling for legal recognition of emotional support animals

‘I don’t think ... you have to sacrifice location and sanity to have your dog’

5 min read
caption Lauren Bodden's emotional support animal Riley.
Lauren Bodden

Lauren Bodden has struggled for years to find a place to live in Halifax for her and her emotional support dog, Riley.

Listing Riley as an emotional support animal in her rental applications doesn’t make a difference because there is no legislation recognizing emotional support animals. She feels pet-friendly living options in Halifax are few and far between.

“In my experience, the only choices for pet-friendly apartments are in unsafe or lower-income areas, or you’re paying $1,500 to stay in a nice place that allows pets,” she said.

Right now, she’s living in Dartmouth in an area where she doesn’t feel safe. The Dalhousie University student also said her commute to both her job and classes is a long one.

“I don’t think a landlord should make it so difficult that you have to sacrifice location and sanity to have your dog,” she said, adding she couldn’t make it through university without Riley.

William Blake is a former tenant and a landlord of 25 years with properties across Canada. He said he sees both sides of the problem.

A lot of the issues encountered with emotional support animals are due to no outlined definition or classification. Landlords don’t know if an emotional support animal has been thoroughly trained or not, whereas if they’re dealing with a service dog, they have that assurance.

“The biggest worry they [landlords] have with pets is worrying about damages. Number one is damages, and number two is if it’s a multi-unit building, sometimes one pet can disturb the other tenants,” he said.

Blake said most landlords, especially smaller ones, aren’t making the profits people think, and they’re operating on tight budgets. In the current market, landlords have more liberty in who they accept as tenants.

“With the low vacancy rates, a lot of landlords are refusing people, and I know it sounds heartless, but It’s a risk calculation,” said Blake.

He said he once had a tenant who was an irresponsible pet owner. Blake ended up having to spend thousands of dollars to replace the carpet and underpadding in the unit.

That experience made Blake more careful when accepting tenants with pets. He said landlords can protect themselves from the worst-case scenario by having linoleum and protected walls. He also said he gives tenants every opportunity to prove they will be a good owner.

Bodden said she would like to see landlords be open to meeting with prospective tenants’ dogs before assuming they will cause damage.

Blake agreed that would be helpful. He also suggested presenting a reference letter from a previous landlord with a photo of the animal and even offering the landlord an opportunity to see where they currently live. He said it’s all about easing the landlord’s worries and showing you are responsible.

Blake, too, has encountered people with emotional support animals and said legislation would help solve a lot of the uncertainty.

“The tenants have to start contacting the local government and contacting the provincial government because that’s something that legislation could fix,” he said.

Above all, Bodden wants more inclusivity— to be recognized and to live in a place where she feels safe.

“We can be denied or kicked out. We’re not recognized,” she said. “I would love for it to be something that is in legislation and is protected so I could live in a safer environment.”

Emotional support dogs vs. therapy dogs

Liane Weber is the chief executive officer of The LifeLine Canada Foundation. They have a program called Companion Paws, where they test and train dogs to be personal therapy dogs.

“The reason we use ‘personal therapy dog’ is because we like to separate ourselves from the fraud that is going on out there across the country with respect to emotional support dogs,” she said.

Weber said they consider all animals to be emotionally supportive, but noted there is a difference between having a medical need for an animal and just wanting to take your pet wherever you go.

There are some online sites where people can pay $100 to get a letter and a vest “certifying” their dog as an emotional support animal.

“There’s a step-up of when your dog should be considered an emotional support dog,” said Weber.

“One, you must be working with a mental health professional and that mental health professional needs to know that their client is capable of self-managing and taking care of their dog.”

Bodden said she has letters from her doctors stating her need for Riley.

caption Bodden said she needs Riley to get through university.
Lauren Bodden

A spokesperson with Nova Scotia’s Department of Justice commented on the current legislation for service dogs and the absence of any for emotional support animals in an email last Wednesday.

“Service dogs receive formal training to perform specific tasks needed to aid a person who has a medical condition or disability,” said Barbara MacLean in an email. “Therapy and emotional support dogs, while providing a valuable service to their owner, typically have limited or no formal training to perform specific tasks.”

Weber said therapy dogs should be trained just like service dogs are. The only thing that separates the service dog from an emotional support animal is the owner’s level of need and ability.

“A therapy dog is a companion dog that is very well trained and obedient and is just a very loving, calm dog,” Weber said. “A service dog is taught specific tasks that help the individual the service dog is paired with.”

Weber said having proper training for emotional support animals would create a common understanding of what they are and ensure they are well-behaved in public spaces. Legislation is required to make this happen.

“There’s no legislation going on across our country. Everyone is struggling with this whole emotional support dog,” she said.

“We are working on having standards accepted across the country within our program for emotional support dogs only.”

Weber said their program keeps growing as they see an increase in people needing an emotional support animal.

For now, Bodden will keep an eye on apartment listings.

“I’m not giving up my dog just because I can’t find an apartment. So wherever I have to live, I’m going to live. It would be nice if there were more options,” she said.

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About the author

Kristina Pappas

Kristina Pappas is a journalism student. She's from western Canada and is smitten with the east coast's charm. You can find her at a beach, exploring...

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  1. k

    kyler smith

    How about buy your own house, can't fathom how someone is upset that a homeowner won't bend over to accommodate your own animals in my property. I just don't like dogs or hearing barking on my day off or their nails scratching on hard wood all day as they walk around, or potential for the dog to piss on hardwood and soak underneath it. My house my rules don't like it don't rent it
    • K

      Kat

      She’s a student at university... buying rarely makes sense there and usually students can’t afford to buy...
  2. D

    David Francis Hill

    My 10 year old daughter was bitten by a dog selling girl guide cookies. Now she is afraid of dogs. I see these so called ESAs in clothing stores and malls all the time and I have to leave because my daughter is so upset and scared that she has a total meltdown. So I think there has to be very strict regulations on this. It may not be fair to some, but it's also not fair to my daughter who wants to go shopping and has to worry about someone bringing in their so called ESAs.
    • J

      Jim

      I never open my door to dogs selling anything.
  3. A

    Anna

    If they want the dogs recognized then there needs to be some kind of certified training for them. Especially since they would be around the general public.
  4. M

    Maddy The Service Dog

    Oh well it’s an ESA not a Service Dog and who cares about ESA. Emotional Support Animals(ESAs) is just a BS scam that all started by Hollywood Celebrities! Only Service Dogs that are Medical Equipment for people with REAL DISABILITIES are allowed in No pet housing is allowed. ESA already been officially ban out of airline cabins and the ESA is now has be checked baggage and the owner has pay the fees to fly their ESA in cargo. HUD is now looking to ban ESA all together from their No Pet Only and Only Service Dogs Allowed Housing.
  5. d

    dont

    how about you grow up and accept life as it is? you dont need an animal everywhere you go, not only do they make a mess which people have to clean up, but people bring them into places where food is being served......are you out of your f'n minds??! there are other ways to deal with emotional trauma......that doesnt mean you get to bring your animal everywhere you go and live everywhere you want to. Other people dont like dogs, dont want to live in a building with dogs who bark and shed hair....not everything is suppose to be catered to dog owners
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