Smokey, right, and her kitten Milou are shown here in their temporary home at the Montreal SPCA on Tuesday.

Smokey, right, and her kitten Milou are shown here in their temporary home at the Montreal SPCA this week, two of about 1,600 abandoned pets around "moving day" in Quebec The SPCA wants Quebec to invalidate the no-pet clause in Quebec leases, like in the province of Ontario, and in Belgium and France
Photo Credit: CP Handout/Montreal SPCA/Anita Kapuscinska

The animal tragedy of “moving day” in Quebec

It happens every year in the mostly French-speaking province of Quebec.

July 1st, Canada Day is the day when most of the provinces rental leases expire.

Tens of thousands of Quebeckers change apartments every Juiy 1st, but in many cases the new apartment has a no-pets clause forcing them to abandon many hundreds of pets
Tens of thousands of Quebeckers change apartments every Juiy 1st, but in many cases the new apartment has a no-pets clause forcing them to abandon many hundreds of pets © Pascal Michaud, Radio-Canada

Every July 1 estimates are that between 7 to 10 percent of the province’s renters will move. Because many landlords have “no-pets” clauses in their leases, every year that means that as people move into new homes, hundreds of pets are abandoned, either in shelters, or sometimes just left behind on the street.

The SPCA in Montreal  estimates that the number of pets brought to their shelter triples in July, either from people bringing in their own pets, or those moving into a new place finding a pet left behind.

The agency says the no-pet clause is particularly problematic for low-income families, who have more limited opportunities when it comes to housing.

The SPCA has  sent a petition to the provincial legislature to have the no-pets clause removed.

Hans Brouilette, a spokesman for a Quebec landlord group says their members have had bad experiences with pets and do not want the rules changed.  He noted that often it is the other tenants who complain, either about noise, cleanliness, or safety.

Faced with a similar problem, France, Belgium and Ontario ruled that clauses prohibiting animals in residential leases were unreasonable and unfair, and so they were declared null and void.

Normally the SPCA in Montreal receives about 600 animals per month, but around moving day the number jumps to about 1,600.

“We are very, very certain that if the no-pet clauses in residential leases were declared null and void, our abandonment rates would drop significantly during this period,” Kapuscinska said.

Categories: Economy, Environment & Animal Life, Society
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