Dorothy Westerman
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 17/05) - There is still no welcome mat for pets on the steps of the Yellowknife Housing Authority, but that doesn't has stopped one woman from continuing her fight.

The rule brought tears to Maggie Dook's eyes as she explained her efforts over the past 18 months to change the housing authority's hard line.

Yellowknifer first reported on Dook's situation in November 2003.

The policy remains the same, despite her steadfast efforts.

"I have no problem with a goldfish in a bowl, but that's about it. In public housing, we have a policy that says no pets," said Jim White, chief executive officer for Yellowknife housing.

"Generally, our tenants are poor, they can't afford to repair those kinds of damages that pets do," he said.

There are tenants who probably would make good pet owners, but the cost and policing would be too high, White said.

It's a case of "because of a few, many suffer."

To support her cause, Dook started a petition last year to change the no pets policy.

Armed with the names of 292 residents in surrounding housing units, Dook took the petition to the housing authority board, only to get another flat "no."

"We even asked them to make an exception - if they didn't approve the petition as a whole - because they do make exceptions," Dook said.

She suffers from anxiety. Her doctor advised "for my physical and mental health, I should get a dog to get me out of the house for therapeutic reasons," Dook said.

"After she made the recommendation, I asked the housing authority and gave them a letter from my doctor but they still said 'no'."

Because the family had to give up their pet cat to move into the housing unit several years ago, Dook said her daughter developed problems that required counselling.

"They told me 'that's what you get for being poor.' They make us feel that we are less worthy and we don't deserve to have what everybody else has."

With the failure of the petition, Dook said she was told by the authority that she has reached the end of the process.

"It's not a law, it's a policy. All they have to do is change it," she said.

"And I can start the process all over again. I told them I can't give up."

She said her MLA Robert Hawkins was supportive and was planning to speak to Housing Minister David Krutko.

White said there are "one or two" well-documented exceptions to the policy within the housing units.

And on rare occasions, pets have been granted a temporary status on a premises, he said.

"They have to be supported by professional opinion and they have to be extremely rare."

Any change in policy would come from the board of directors, he said.