Well, I'm looking around for a new place since the house is getting a bit too expensive. I decided to look into some Boardwalk properties, since I have rented from them before, and they do have some very nice places around Calgary.
Well, being the honest individual that I am, I asked if reptiles were allowed, since cats and dogs, and birds were allowed, only to find out that they have a ban on reptiles in their properties.
Well, disgusted with this, I decided to write to their head office. The repsonse I got made me so mad I was seeing red.
Here's my letter:
I don't know what this is worth, but I would like to inform you of my disgust for your prejudicial pet policy.
I am a responsible tenant, and a former renter of a boardwalk property in Alberta. Since moving out, I have acquired quite a few of my absolute favorite animals; reptiles. I am dissatisfied with my current living situation, and I wanted to move back into a Boardwalk property, since I was always satisfied with my treatment despite the fact that I had to break my lease 1 month early in order to move on an opportunity for a house. I have since found out that Boardwalk will not allow reptiles, and I cannot think of one reason other than prejudice that would lead to this policy.
FACT: Reptiles are much quieter than dogs, cats, or birds.
FACT: Reptiles are completely non-allergenic.
FACT: Dogs are responsible for literally thousands of human injuries per year.
FACT: Not one reptile-related injury has been reported in Canada for over 5 years.
FACT: Responsible owners such as myself ensure that the enclosures the reptiles are kept in are 100% escape proof.
FACT: Clean reptile cages have no smell whatsoever, whereas cat litter boxes can leave smells lingering for weeks, and in some cases, cat musk has been known to stink up carpets so badly that they need to be replaced. Reptiles are utterly incapable of this.
FACT: Reptiles are no louder than fish.
In light of the facts above, there is not one good reason to ban legal reptiles from your properties if such animals as cats and dogs are allowed.
This comes as a huge disappointment to me, since I was planning to rent a Boardwalk property long-term. Though I know that this means nothing to a large rental company, since you WILL find a tenant to occupy the space that I would have otherwise occupied, I have every intention of making your prejudicial anti-reptile policy very well known to the reptile community, and to various Consumer Advocacy groups, which may take exception to the allowance of pets that are known and proven nuisances, and the banning of pets based on fear, prejudice, or simply unfounded principles.
If I am mistaken about this, and the reptile policy is NOT handed down from Boardwalk's head office, then please email the CSR at Oak Hill Estates in Calgary and inform her that the bad publicity of discriminating against someone's pets while allowing other pets is NOT good for business. If this is a Boardwalk policy, please explain to me the reasons behind it so that I don't go to the media, Consumer Advocacy groups, and reptile community (which is much larger than you think) with misappropriated information.
Thank you in advance for your time and serious attention to this discriminatory matter.
Sincerely,
Ken LePage
Well, here's the response I got:
Good morning,
Thank you for bringing your concern to our attention.
As a Landlord we do have the right to pick and choose, which pets we wish to permit, in our buildings. Some people are fearful of these types of pets so in order to prevent chaos we do not allow exotic pets or reptiles in our buildings. If we permit your reptiles then we have to make allowances for other customers that wish to house reptiles. We have set guidelines and we will adhere to them.
We are sorry that we were unable to accommodate you. We do hope that you will find suitable accommodations.
Sincerely,
Customer Service
Boardwalk Rental Communities
In order to prevent CHAOS????? Excuse me?????
For starters, I don't invite all of my neighbors in to see my collection. I'm smarter than that.
Even when moving in, they would be in snake bags. Nobody would see them.
Here's the other kicker .... they do allow birds. Are birds not an exotic pet? Are there not people out there who are afraid of dogs?
Now, I do realize that it IS their right to decide which pets to allow.... but obviously they are picking and choosing based on unfounded and discriminatory policies.
If anyone here would like to write to Boardwalk to express your own views, their address is
service@bwalk.com . Please keep it professional if you do, we don't want the herp community being perceived wrong.
I'm calling Housing & Consumer affairs to lodge an official complaint, which there will be nothing done about, but ya know what? Nobody ever got anything changed by being silent, either. We need to all work together to help stp the discrimination against reptiles, because this is how they get banned to begin with - discrimination.
Just thoguht I'd share my rant.
Ken
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