BC SPCA urges election candidates to commit to pet-friendly housing laws

VANCOUVER — As British Columbia chooses a new provincial government on Saturday, the SPCA has launched its own campaign urging voters to call on election candidates to commit to changing laws so that families with pets will have equal access to housing.

The plea comes after Erin Hayman’s family spent months hunting for a place to live with their pets when they lost their home in the Bald Range wildfire, which destroyed about 150 structures in the district of Summerland, B.C. in August.

A statement from the BC SPCA says Hayman’s family was determined to keep their whole family together, including their two dogs and four cats, after flames destroyed their home this summer, but housing limitations made it “impossible.”

Hayman’s four cats, Peaches, Miso, Gauntlett and Calamari, have been staying at the SPCA’s emergency boarding program since the fire, and they found temporary housing that accepted their dogs.