Condo vs. Emotional Support Dogs

CONDO ASSOCIATION VS. EMOTIONAL SUPPORT DOGS

**UPDATE** as of November 13, 2015:

SYNOPSIS
CALGARY, ALBERTA - Single dad spends thousands in legal fees fighting their Condo Association trying to keep the emotional support dogs his daughters need after the Association refused his "with compassion" request to keep one extra dog more than the condo rules allowed.

OUR STORY
Hi everyone, my name is Berklee and I am 17 years old. I currently live in a condominium complex with my younger sister (Briyah, 12) and father.  We have lived here for 16 years.

In 2008, our family doctor of 7 years suggested to my dad that we should get a small lap dog for emotional support during the tough time that our family was experiencing.  My parents were divorcing and then my mother moved to South Africa to be with her fiance and has not returned. The impact of the family breakdown and the loss of our mother was overwhelming for all of us.

We adopted our first emotional support dog, a small elderly dog named Cinders, in 2008 followed by two other small dogs, Diesel and Kona ... one for each of us as my dad witnessed how much these dogs were helping us deal with stress, sadness and grief, and brought so much joy and security to our lives.. My older sister was still living with us at that time.

Two years after adding the 2 additional support dogs to our family, we received a letter from our Condo Association stating that we had to “Evict 2 additional dogs within 7 days”. The condo bylaws stated that home owners were only allowed 1 dog or 2 cats. My dad was not aware of this condo rule because he was so focused on providing for us as a single dad and doing what was best for us girls.

Anyone who has a dog knows that they become a solid member of your family, and it is physically and emotionally impossible to get rid of them. "I just couldn't let my girls go through more loss, either their dogs or their home, after already losing so much, Garry said."

My dad pleaded with the Condo Association to make an exception to the rule on a  "compassionate basis" but the Condo Association refused. Doctors and psychologists wrote letters of support and the Alberta Human Rights Commission said we had the right to keep our dogs. Several condo neighbours wrote letters of support; some even stating they didn't know we had dogs because they were so quiet. But still the Condo Association refused to consider our request.

Finally, because we couldn't bear to part with one of our dogs, or to move, my dad was forced to hire a lawyer. Then my older sister moved out and took one of the dogs with her, but we still had two dogs, one more than was allowed.

GOOD NEWS ... after years of battling, the Condo Association finally voted and agreed to let us have two small dogs. We were so relieved! That is, until the Condo Association sent us a letter demanding $9000 in legal fees immediately or they would take us to court. Unfortunately we received some bad advice from our lawyer who said we shouldn't pay it and just take our chances in court as he believed the judge would probably cut that amount down by 50% or more. However, a month ago , we received another letter from the Condo Association stating that they were taking us to court and were suing for over $18,000 in legal fees.

BAD NEWS ... on November 13, 2015, the judge unexpectadly sided with the Condo Association and my dad was charged with $15,700 for their legal costs.

My Dad is currently off work due to a bad car accident (other driver's fault). We would greatly appreciate any/all donations to help us cover these legal fees we have been charged with.

Thanks for your time & consideration. Any help you can give, even a small amount of $20, is appreciated more than you know.  People & organizations who act like bullies should NEVER WIN!

<3
Berklee Sadden