Lisa-Marie Harkness depends on her dog Chloe.

Harkness was diagnosed with hearing loss in both ears last year and has been training Chloe, a Dandie Dimonte Terrier Poodle, to alert her to sounds she can no longer hear, such as a fire alarm or someone knocking on her door.

“I got Chloe just before I found out I had hearing loss in both ears. I noticed that she would alert me to different sounds, she alerts me to someone knocking on the door or the doorbell, because I can’t hear that frequency and that’s how it started,” says Harkness, who moved to Kelowna from Merritt three months ago to become a full-time student at Okanagan College.

She says because Chloe is an ’owner-trained’ animal, she doesn’t have official certification as a service dog and that lack of a certificate means she may have to give Chloe up for adoption because she can’t keep her in her apartment due to Strata Council restrictions against animals.

“I desperately looked for a place that would allow animals because I knew there are issues about bringing pets in, even though she’s a service animal, without the certification most people just look down their noses at you. The Strata Council for my building has a bylaw that states there are to be no animals on the premises and they take that quite literally.”

Harkness says her sister was keeping Chloe for awhile.

“The longer Chloe is away from me, the more of her training we are losing. When my sister had her here for two days, the next day I received a notice in my mail that they were considering a fine of $500 and that was because of the bylaw infraction of having an animal on the premises. That means my sister, or anyone else who happens to visit with animals, I can’t let them in. It’s a bit strict.”

She says there are a few reasons why she hasn’t been able to get Chloe certified as a service dog.

“The reason I self trained her is because there is a waiting list of three to five years to obtain a service animal. Since I found she is instinctively doing what I needed, I thought I’d just continue with her training and worry about certifying her later. And then I found out that the places in B.C. which certify these animals will not certify an owner trained dog, even if my dog could pass all of their requirements. The only other place that does this certification is in Ontario and you have to spend about $35,000 - $40,000 and you have to go up there for a month with the animal for training and evaluation. I’m a full time student, so that’s just not an option.”

She says after months of trying to reach her Strata Management Council, she finally got a call from them earlier this week.

“I get a phone call from the head of the Strata management company saying that they wanted to help me but I needed some proof that I needed this animal, that there was no other way I could be a functioning adult without the animal. So I need to prove to them how much I rely on her and that there’s no other things such as flashing lights that could help me to lead a normal life. So there’re telling me I have to prove my disability and prove that everything else has been tried and my animal is the very last on the list and then maybe they’ll consider her, but she has to be certified.”

Harkness says part of the problem is she has an invisible disability.

“There needs to be more education about service animals and the impact they have on the people who use them. Most people might think that if I had a visible disability, there might not be a problem, but because hearing loss is an invisible disability, people don’t understand that. They don’t understand my reliance on her, so they aren’t at all willing to help me on this.”

Currently, Chloe is being cared for by Harkness’s ex-husband. She says Chloe can’t stay with him indefinably, so she may have to put her up for adoption at the SPCA if the Strata doesn’t allow her to stay in her apartment.

Greg Bickert, Strata manager, says Harkness can submit other forms of proof she requires Chloe besides a service dog certificate.

"We spoke with her Monday night and we understand from her that obtaining a service dog certificate might not be possible. We will accept other forms of documentation saying that she requires the dog, such as a doctor's note," says Bickert.

He says once Harkness submits evidence that reasonably shows her need for Chloe, the Strata Council will reconsider her request.

"We have been playing phone tag with her for awhile now, but Monday night was the first time we actually connected with her."

Bickert says she can submit the documentation to Strata at any time.