Drop in blood pressure. Decreased risk of heart attack and stroke. Reduced stress and depression. These are just some of the benefits study after study shows come from pet ownership.
Most pet owners will tell
you there's nothing like coming home after a tough day to have a furry friend, in the form of a cat or a dog, greet you at the door.
But if you're not able to afford a home in the second-most unaffordable real estate market in the English-speaking world (Vancouver) - or its nearby suburbs, like Burnaby, you'll probably have trouble finding a place to live where you can own a pet.
That's why we're rooting for Vancouver Coun. Tim Stevenson, who wants Victoria to change the Residential Tenancy Act to allow for pets in rental properties.
In Canada's largest province, renters already have that right. In Ontario, according to that province's Landlord and Tenant Board, a tenant can only be evicted for having a pet in their unit if the pet "is making too much noise, damaging the unit, or causing an allergic reaction, or the animal or species is considered to be inherently dangerous."
Those rules protect landlords from bad pet owners, and from legitimate concerns over allergies (a doctor's note is required), but allow people who can't afford home ownership, including seniors, the benefits a pet brings.
Yes, there are bad pet owners, but not nearly as many as in decades past. Gone are the days, for example, when it was considered acceptable to chain a dog in a yard, or to allow a cat to remain unspayed.
Not liking pets shouldn't be enough of a reason to be able to refuse a tenant, just as not liking children is not a legitimate reason for a landlord to turn down a prospective tenant who is a parent, although it still happens.
There's another benefit to pet ownership: the one that comes to the pet.
Imagine how many fewer animals would spend their lives in shelters - or be killed simply because the shelters are full - if B.C. updates its antiquated laws.
