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.

But a statement from the SPCA says it has taken the family about three months to find pet-friendly, long-term housing that will allow them to reunite with their cats in November.

Hayman says it has been “incredibly difficult” for his daughters, as they are dealing with the pain of losing everything in the fire, and fearing at one point that they might have to give their cats away.

Sarah Herring with the BC SPCA says they are seeing too many families being forced to surrender or rehome pets they love because they can’t find pet-friendly housing.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2026.

The Canadian Press