City council may allow emotional support animals

Proposed changes to Calgary’s pet bylaw could allow for Calgarians to keep livestock as emotional-support animals.

The recommended changes, scheduled to be debated by a council committee Wednesday, would allow for residents to own and keep all sorts of animals currently banned by bylaws.

The issue came to light last year after Calgarian Nikki Pike faced the loss of three emotional-support chickens she relies on to deal with debilitating anxiety and depression.

Pike told Postmedia last December the animals brought her never-before-felt levels of comfort and relief from her condition, allowing her to reclaim a level of normalcy she had previously thought impossible.

Coun. Jyoti Gondek, who earlier this year called on council to loosen the city’s restrictions in some cases, said the proposed bylaw checks all the boxes.

“I’m really impressed with the methodology that our administrative team has followed — they did a lot of due diligence on this and looked at examples of other jurisdictions where emotional-support animals are allowed,” she said.

“They have talked to other orders of government, medical professionals — they have exhausted all of the things we have asked them to do and come back with a really reasonable approach.”

G on de ks aid the proposed changes have kept in mind that members of the community would be living near residences with emotional-support animals.

“It is respectful and mindful of the individual who needs the emotional-support animal, but also the context of where the animal is kept,” she said.

“It’s very respectful of the neighbours as well and it makes sure the animal will be treated with compassion and care. It ensures there is going to be veterinary service available, and the size of the yard and everything like that is considered.”

Under the current pet-ownership bylaw, chickens are considered livestock and are not permitted in residential or commercial spaces in the city.

Proposed amendments to the bylaw would allow for emotionalsupport animals, such as Pike’s chickens, to be kept in such spaces, with approval from the chief bylaw enforcement officer.

A mental health professional would need to deem the animal to be of benefit for an individual with a disability, and the owner would need to pay a licence fee of $64.

Those whose petitions for a support animal are rejected would have 30 days to appeal the decision.

The draft bylaw notes the officer would have the ability to impose conditions on the keeping of a particular animal.

Should the bylaw changes be endorsed by committee, it would then go to city council for final approval.

According to the city report, there is currently only one current Canadian municipality that has altered its bylaws to allow for emotional-support animals, making provisions for Vietnamese potbellied pigs.