Sitting on the patio of a Burnaby townhouse unit with her best friend Spirit by her side, it doesn’t take much for Carole Cardinal to get emotional about her predicament.
Cardinal and her 10-year-old lab are inseparable.
The pair met when Cardinal was taking care of a friend, Spirit’s owner, who was dying of cancer. After he passed away, the Cardinal took responsibility of the mellow pooch.
“My dog is one of the nicest dogs,” she told the NOW.
Unfortunately, it looks like someone Cardinal’s apartment complex on Southoaks Crescent doesn’t feel the same way. And now the senior, who is on a pension, is having to choose between her companion or finding a new place to live.
Cardinal’s situation goes back almost two years, when she befriended David Balmer. The two got to know each other while walking their dogs in the neighbourhood. She moved into his townhouse in the apartment complex in the fall of 2014.
The problem: the strata only allows one small dog, and Balmer already has his own dog, a Chihuahua named Tin.
Balmer said everything was fine, until he got an infraction notice from the strata in mid-February, notifying him that one of the dogs would have to go or he, as the townhouse owner, would face fines of $200 a week.
He believes someone in the building complained, but has never been given the reason why the strata began enforcing the bylaw.
What followed was a back and forth for the last few months between the strata council’s lawyers and Balmer, who is asking they allow him to keep two dogs in his unit. He’s proposed the strata change the bylaw to allow townhome owners to have a second, larger dog. Balmer has even suggested that Cardinal and Spirit provide a block watch service for the building free of charge in return.
So far, he’s had no luck changing anyone’s mind. While Cardinal can stay, Spirit has to go. But giving up her best friend is not an option.
“It’s very stressful. I can’t give my dog away,” she said. “It’s like killing your kid.”
But, living on a pension with limited funds has Cardinal in a bind. She wants to stay in the area but finding an affordable place to live has been difficult. Cardinal is willing to live in her car if it means staying with Spirit.
Balmer acknowledged keeping Spirit is against the strata bylaws, but he’s hoping the strata council will have some compassion and let the dog stay.
“I’m attached to Spirit,” he said, adding everyone in the building likes the dog. “We’re in the wrong here (but) they’ve been letting it go for almost two years.”
A letter from the strata’s lawyer on May 10 indicates the council’s decision is final, but also noted it has given Balmer “ample opportunity to comply with removal of the second dog.”
The deadline for the dog to be removed was extended to May 22, which has now come and gone. The NOW reached out to Associa British Columbia, the building’s property management company. A representative said they would contact the president of the strata to see if they would provide comment, but the NOW had not heard back as of Friday morning.
Failing a reversal from the strata, Balmer hopes his friend will find a place nearby so the pair and their two dogs can stay friends.
“She’s a nice lady with a good heart,” he said.
