Article content

Calgary is set to be the first city in Canada to allow livestock to be kept as emotional support animals.

Council voted nearly unanimously Monday to ease restrictions within the city’s pet ownership bylaw to allow Calgarians keep specific livestock animals with the approval of the chief bylaw enforcement officer. Only Coun. Sean Chu voted against the proposal.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or City council gives its blessing to pigs, chickens and other comfort animals Back to video

Coun. Jyoti Gondek brought forward the proposal after one of her constituents approached her with a plea to be permitted to keep her backyard hens. The constituent, Nikki Pike, said the chickens helped her cope with trauma she suffered as a result of being sexually assaulted as a child.

“It’s never all right as a society to know of such atrocities and sweep them away by stating that ‘what happens in high school should stay there.’ We need to step up and find ways to support those whose lives have suffered irreparable damage as a result of violence they faced in their childhoods,” Gondek said in council chambers Monday.