‘Cash grab’: Man refuses to pay legal fee to keep service dog in Etobicoke condo

An Etobicoke man who refused to pay a hefty fee to keep his service dog in his condo says he’s prepared to take the matter to a human rights tribunal to keep his beloved animal from being evicted.

Varun Mutneja and his wife, Samantha, moved into an Etobicoke condo last summer and say they’ve been in a battle with the condo board ever since over Mutneja’s four-year-old golden retriever, Nala.

The building’s rules only permit residents to own one dog weighing 20 pounds or less. Nala weighs 50 pounds.

But she’s also a registered service dog and Mutneja says he immediately sought an exemption.

He says he provided the board of Kings Gate Condo Corporation documentation proving that Nala was a service dog, as well as a letter from a doctor.

Mutneja said that wasn’t enough for the board.

“They want access to personal medical records in order to assess ‘do I actually have a need for the service animal or not?’ ”

On top of his medical records, condo officials told him that he would have to pay a $450 fee for the board’s lawyer to draft an exemption agreement —which he would have to pay whether the exemption was accepted or not.

If he didn’t pay, the board told him the dog could be evicted.

Calling it a “cash grab,” he refused to fork over the money.

“It’s a shock that I need to pay to have a registered service animal with me,” he said. “It’s not a matter of paying the money, it’s a matter of principle. She is a service animal.”

Mutneja did not get into specifics about why he requires a service animal, but said the dog provides emotional support and helps with his stress and anxiety.

“When she senses that I’m stressed or angry for whatever reason, she’ll come up to me, she calms me,” he said.

“She doesn’t bark. She is the calmest, most docile animal … She’s been so helpful in reducing my stress and my anxiety.”

After refusing to pay the fee, he says the board’s lawyers got involved.

“Anyone can register their dogs on the Service Dogs Canada webpage,” the board’s legal team wrote him in a letter. “The documentation is not sufficient to establish that Nala is a genuine service dog.”

Human rights lawyer, Shane Martinez, told CityNews, “the law is quite clear that a person who requires the assistance of the service animal is entitled to accommodation and this includes housing.”

Martinez says the board may be entitled to ask for information about a person’s disability, but says the request for a legal fee is concerning.

“In those circumstances you’re effectively imposing a price tag in order to be accommodated under the (human rights) code. You’re saying ‘we’re only going to respect your human rights if you can afford it’ and that’s entirely contrary to the spirit of the code.”

In a statement to CityNews, the condo board argued that if they didn’t seek reimbursement, the cost would fall on all condo owners in the building.

But they also appeared to change course adding:

“The board has agreed to process this request without reimbursement of the legal fee subject to a later determination by a court or tribunal as to whether the legal fee should be paid by the requester.”

But Mutneja says he hasn’t heard from the board since January 31, and feels things are still in limbo when it comes to the status of his dog.

When asked if he was willing to take the fight to the Ontario’s human rights tribunal, he replied: “Absolutely. We would like to get this peacefully resolved. Our intention isn’t to change the condo rules. We just want to keep our service animal in the building. That’s it.”

“The stress is beyond explanation.”