Right off the bat, I will admit that I love my dog a little more than most people do. That being said, with the lack of pet-friendliness in the area there is no wonder the local humane societies are bursting at the seams and having to turn away animals.
In the last three years, we have lived in three different apartments but this is the first one that has charged an outrageous pet fee on top of the already steep damage deposit. In addition to monthly rent our apartment company charges $50 per month for a pet, which I agree is a reasonable fee. When we first signed the lease, with the damage deposit and first months rent, the apartment company charged $750 for one pet - $750! A fee, which despite mentioning over the phone and during the viewing that we had a pet, we were not made aware of until after the lease was already signed.
There are those that argue in favour of the apartment company, saying that there is a risk to them associated with allowing animals to inhabit the building. Yes, there is. But it's no more of a risk than allowing a bunch of rowdy teenagers to rent a room, or a family with rambunctious young children. If I'm not mistaken, that's what the damage deposit is for. If my pet makes any kind of damage, they already have the equivalent of one month's rent that I'm positive they will not hesitate to keep.
The amount of people that move to the area from out-of-province and bring their pets with them, only to find it is first of all, near impossible to find a pet-friendly rental property and then when you do they charge an unreasonable amount of money for that pet, must be incredible.
Personally, I could never leave our dog no matter how much money it cost. But I can understand how that might be the tipping point for some people to drop off their animals off at the shelter.
The Lakeland Humane Society takes in around 600 animals per year, and according to shelter manager Kyla Hunter, because of space limitations, they are forced to turn away just as many. As of Nov. 2014, Bonnyville and District SPCA manager Heather Mutch said their shelter had cared for 296 dogs and cats.
Maybe that wouldn't be the case if the area were more pet-friendly. No offence parents, but a child is going to do more damage to an apartment than my 8 year old dog that sleeps on the couch for pretty much 20 hours a day.
For those that do have pets, I'm sure you've noticed the lack of amenities such as pet parks or off-the-leash areas. With a lot of people living in apartments or other rental housing units with small and sometimes shared yards, it would make sense to have at least one place where pet owners could go to give their animals the exercise they need.
In section 8 of the dog bylaw posted on the Town of Bonnyville's website it states “No dogs are allowed on any Public Park, or on the premises of any person other than the premises of its owner or harbourer, unless permission is granted...”
It's reasonable that a dog should not be allowed on someone else's private property, but to not allow dogs in public parks even with a leash on, I don't think I've ever been in a town or city with such a ridiculous rule.
I don't know what it is this area has against pets and why it's being made so difficult to have them.
