Making a big move and change in your life is never easy, especially if you have some little friends who are counting on you.
But Audry Harrison has been told she’ll have to get rid of two of her five longtime, canine companions after getting a notice from the city’s bylaw department a few weeks ago. The city allows three dogs per home.
Two people complained to the city, one about the noise of the barking and the other about the number of dogs in the apartment.
“I’ve got only got until the 15th of the month to get rid of two,” Harrison said from her condo on 226th Street, across from Haney Place Mall.
Harrison, 87, brought Gizmo, Jasmine, Romeo, Brandy and Baby with her when she downsized from her Maple Ridge house and moved into her new apartment in August, and agrees she probably should have checked the rules when she moved in.
Four of the dogs are Yorkshire terriers and one is a Yorkshire-chihauhua cross and they greet visitors with friendly sniffs and tail wags.
“These are not big dogs and they never leave my property unless they’re in my arms or in my car,” she said.
“They are so tiny. They are all on my bed. They sleep with me every night.”
Harrison, who is a former dog breeder, said she took them around the building and showed her neighbours and all but one was OK with her dogs.
She acknowledges the dogs never get outside and that she can barely walk herself. But, “They’ve always been house dogs. They’ve always been in the house.”
The dogs relieve themselves on mats, and Harrison points out when she bought the suite, she had vinyl flooring installed. “There’s nothing that can penetrate that floor.”
Harrison, though, is getting used to the idea she may have to part with two of her old friends. If she can’t find them a good home, she may have to put down the two elder of her companions, Jasmine and Gizmo, both of whom are 13. The building’s strata council has also contacted her.
Taking them to the Maple Ridge SPCA isn’t an option because it’s too cold in that building.
“My dogs are used to a nice, warm house. I’d have them put to sleep before I put them there.”
There’s still another option, though.
Harrison wouldn’t mind adopting out the two, if she knew they were going to a good home.
“If I could look at their house to make sure it’s safe for the dogs, I could give up two.”
