It's a fact that some people can relate more to dogs, and some can relate more to cats. For the longest time, it's been very difficult trying to find housing or even a community that supports Service Cats because they are known as Emotional Support Animals instead. I suffer from anxiety disorder to the point where I cannot think straight at times is that my anxiety has become so bad that the only thing that seems to calm me down is the gentle purr of my cat. I have had my cat for nine years now, and I trained him all on my own which took three years from when he was a kitten. Since then, my psychologist has written my landlords letters about how my cat helps me in many ways and that if I didn't have my feline, I would be lost and incapable of living a day to day life effectively. 

Shadow, (my nine-year-old cat) used to fetch my medication, cuddle when I was feeling down or lost, and he seemed to connect with me on a different level. I have never really been a dog person and so when I tried to get a service dog, I had found out that the service dog I was getting already did almost everything Shadow was doing for me. Perhaps, the greatest thing my cat has done was when I experienced a full-blown panic attack alone in my apartment, he meowed so loud that the neighbors heard him. Someone knocked on my door, and shadow jumped up and opened the door for them. He lead them straight to where I was - in the washroom - basically having a seizure due to how fast my heart was going. The neighbor then called the ambulance and I have never forgotten that experience in my life. 

Cats go unnoticed for everything they do for their owners and in my opinion they are equal to if not better than most trained dogs. The only difference between training a cat and training a dog is that cat's are more stubborn and you have to be a lot more patient with them. At first, they are not going to do anything they don't want to do no matter how hard you try. A dog is much different as their goal is to constantly please their owner and make them proud. It's been a while now where I have discussed to my potential landlords that say no pets allowed that Shadow is not a pet. He is a certified emotional support animal recommended and signed off by my clinical counselor. Imagine what would have happened if my cat wasn't there that day I was seizing up in my washroom. There has been many stories much like mine found that their cat specifically paid more attention to them than their dog has yet, there is no act stating that cats can be known as service animals. In Canada, a landlord can say no to an emotional support animal even though they aren't classified as a pet. 

Not only do people like me who suffer from more than one mental health issue, but now it's even more difficult to get housing for us and our cats. So many people have had to give up their cats who help them so much just because they need a roof over their heads. In my opinion, I feel as though this is very unfair to us emotional support animal owners as we should have the same rights (or our cats should) as that of a service dog. This petition is designed out there for people who can connect on a deeper level with their cats and for those of us who have well-mannered cats who have been trained to respect their owners and support them in our mental or physical illnesses. Please help me get cats noticed as service supporters for people as it would make things a lot easier for the mental and physical sufferers.

Thank You