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| Name: |
Rosa
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Age: |
Seven years old
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| Gender: |
Female
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Kind: |
Cat
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| Home: |
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
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Two and a half years ago my lovely partner Cheryl passed away, leaving me with a large void in my life and some very difficult emotions. After some months I felt I needed to do something to combat the loneliness I was experiencing.
I was surfing my favourite local buy and sell site one day, when I came upon Rosa, living in a less than pleasant situation. She need to be rehomed because she was being bullied by another cat. Although against my building's rules, I decided impulsively to hire her as a full time live in fur-apist to help me heal from my loss. I found her rates to be very reasonable. In exchange for food, water, fresh litter and cuddles, she provides all the help I need. However, this led to us being evicted for violating the landlord's no pet rule and ensuing arbitration with the Residential Tenancy Branch. A very traumatic experience! Legally homeless for over a month!
In the end, I won the right to keep my apartment although, Rosa had to not be there. We stayed in a pet-friendly hotel for 11 days, which I couldn't afford, so off she went to a cat hotel for 38 days while the battle continued with the support of the Vancouver Human Rights Coalition. I hardly got to see her during this time due to the distance but, she was in good hands with Mrs Doolittle's cat boarding service. Winning against these landlords would have set a precedent which terrified the building's owners (all twelve of their properties are no pet buildings).
They wanted us gone so bad that they took it upon themselves to find us a new pet friendly apartment that was cheaper, nicer and had a balcony (in a .5% vacancy rate time) through another agency, to get us off their backs. We did accept and now live in a much better place.
Rosa has helped me tremendously by bringing unconditional love and acceptance back into my life. She comes and greets me at the door when I get home. She likes to lay on my chest when I watch tv and purrs beautifully. And she snuggles under my arm when we sleep at night.
We both went through a lot but happily we landed on our feet. Hopefully, anti-pet laws can be struck down in British Columbia as they were in the province of Ontario.
Rosa is the new love of my life and all people who suffer from loneliness and loss (so many!) should be allowed to live with a loved one. Animals are family and should be treated as such.
Thanks for all your help, Rosa!
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