Make no-pet clauses an election issue: SPCA

The SPCA de Montréal is taking the opportunity of the election campaign to highlight the issue of no-pet clauses in Quebec, hoping the government and the parties will make it a priority, especially given the high priority — municipally and provincially — of the housing crisis. No-pet clauses are one of the factors that could lead to homelessness.

Despite a recent ruling by the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL), no-pet clauses are still legal in Quebec, and widespread. In Quebec, the SPCA points out, 85 per cent of available rental units either prohibit pets or impose significant restrictions on them.

Last March, the TAL heard the case of M. Desjardins, who has been living at one address since 2015, but under different landlords. Desjardins’ dog was allowed to live in the apartment under an existing lease. The new landlord tried to invoke a no-pet clause to evict them. But tribunal judge Suzanne Guévremont ruled that imposing a no-pet clause would constitute a violation of the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.

An op-ed published in La Presse last week, signed by several homeless shelters and housing organizations, said that “as political parties seek solutions to help more people leave the streets and secure stable housing, one obstacle remains largely absent from the debate: the inability of many people experiencing homelessness to find housing that accepts their pets.”

Many of them, the SPCA says, would rather stay on the streets with their pets, whom they consider family, rather than abandon them. In 2015, the National Assembly did table Bill 54, an act to improve the legal situation of animals, declaring animals to be sentient beings, and that they “contribute to the quality of life in Quebec society.” But no-pet clauses are generally still legally valid.

This is something the animal and housing activists have been fighting for a long time. The SPCA has been asking Quebec governments to ban no-pet clauses for at least a decade. In fact, in 2015, they presented a petition, sponsored by then-Quebec Solidaire MNA Manon Massé, in the National Assembly.

The party tabled a bill to ban no-pet clauses in 2023, but it did receive support.

“As homelessness reaches alarming levels and the Quebec election approaches,” the SPCA says, “we are collectively reminding political decision makers that any effective response to this crisis must address all the factors preventing people from leaving the street and accessing adequate housing. These barriers include no-pet clauses in rental housing, whose impact on homelessness remains largely absent from the public debate.”

Voters are being encouraged to call the provincial parties urging them to make this an election issue. Phone numbers and a script for leaving a message are available on the SPCA website. n

This article originally ran on thesuburban.com.