NDG woman threatened with eviction because of elderly cat: ‘Just let her be with us’

“ No pet clauses are still valid in Quebec,” said Sophie Gaillard, Montreal SPCA director of animal advocacy after an NDG woman was told she has to give up her elderly cat or face eviction. Brittany Henriques reports.

A Montreal woman who has been living in the same NDG apartment for 11 years is facing eviction because her landlord wants her to get rid of her 20-year-old cat Lola.

Through a cracking voice and fighting back tears – and with Lola looking on from the dining room table – Tricia Bartley says she intends to keep fighting for her cat to stay.

“We don’t know how much longer we have with her,” Bartley told CityNews. “We may have a year. We’d be blessed to have a couple more. But we know she’s slowed down quite a bit and we know she’s not going to be around for that much longer.

“So just let her be with us. She needs to be with us.”

Bartley says the situation has turned her life on its head. She says she’s been crying a lot and has not been sleeping.

“I’m finding it very difficult to sleep and it’s been difficult to focus right now even at work,” she said.

“I’m hurt and angry that one of my family members is being threatened this way. This is breaking up our family and caused a lot of undue stress and anxiety in every member of this home.”

Tricia Bartley with a poster about her cat Lola being evicted outside their NDG home on April 28, 2023. (Brittany Henriques/CityNews)

Bartley detailed her situation in a Facebook post that generated hundreds of likes and shares, with many sympathizing with her and sharing their own similar stories.

In that post, Bartley wrote of Lola: “She can’t jump quite as easily and occasionally misses her step. Her fur has thinned as well as her waistline. She’s lost half her teeth and has moments of confusion, all signs of a well aged cat.”

“Lola was never a secret,” the Montreal woman told CityNews. “So when the house was sold, and that changeover, there was never a secret that Lola was here. It only started in September of 2022 when the first visit to the dwelling that Lola was here and the landlord had informed us at that time, the following day, that I had a week to rehome Lola.”

‘No pet clauses’ in Quebec

The situation is far from being an isolated incident according to the Montreal SPCA, which says it deals with similar stories daily. The animal rights’ group has been fighting to make “no pet clauses” illegal in Quebec.

“This is extremely distressing to see and it also has a really huge impact on animal welfare,” said Sophie Gaillard, the interim executive director at the Montreal SPCA. “It’s one of the primary reasons for which animals are surrendered to shelters.”

“We now know that in Quebec, over half of households include a dog or a cat. And yet when people try to rent an apartment that’s animal friendly, they find out quickly enough that it’s extremely difficult to find rental housing that will accept animals.”


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Gaillard, who is also the SPCA’s director of animal advocacy and legal affairs, says “no pet clauses” are still valid in Quebec despite being banned elsewhere.

“They have been banned in Ontario since the ‘90s, in France since 1970, but unfortunately here in Quebec they are still perfectly legal and they cause a huge degree of distress to both people and animals on a daily basis.

“They are considered valid under Quebec law. Landlords do have a right to enforce them. So we encourage people to try to convince their landlord that the animal isn’t actually causing any damages or any nuisance.”

Tricia Bartley and her cat Lola in their NDG home on April 28, 2023. (Brittany Henriques/CityNews)

Gaillard says the SPCA in Montreal has been campaigning for over a decade now to remove “no pet clauses.”

“We recently reached a bit of a milestone in the campaign,” she said. “Last year, we introduced a petition at the National Assembly that was signed by over 33,000 Quebecers in support of banning no pet clauses. And just a few months ago, Québec solidaire announced that they will be introducing a bill, the first bill to actually propose to ban no pet clauses.

“So we’re looking forward to that bill being introduced and we’ll of course be asking the public to lend its support to the passing of this bill.”

But likely before that happens, Bartley will need her landlord to change their mind about the 20-year-old feline companion.

“She’s a true reflection of our home,” Bartley said of Lola. “She’s gentle, she’s affectionate. She’s aware of our feelings and our emotions. She’s a bit of a goofball.

“I have three children – 22, 20 and 17 – and Lola is definitely a member of our family and she fits right in there. And my kids have grown up with her and she’s grown up with them. Truly she’s a family member.”

CityNews reached out to Bartley’s landlord for comment but did not immediately hear back.

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