Florida man fights eviction over 'emotional support squirrel'
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A Florida man has been served with an eviction notice over his emotional support squirrel.
Ryan Boylan, 40, of Clearwater, says he needs Brutis to deal with anxiety from a long ago car accident but Island Walk Condominiums says the squirrel needs to vacate the premises because she is putting other residents at risk.
"There's absolutely no way I would give her up. I'm not sure how an animal that weighs less than two pounds can harm anybody,” he told WFTS-TV.
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Boylan told the station he fell in love with Brutis after nursing her back to health after Hurricane Matthew more than a year ago. The squirrel has the run of Boylan’s apartment. One of her perches is the ceiling fan.
The condo board found out about Brutis in April when a dog chased the squirrel up a tree, WFLA-TV reported Friday.
Boyland was served with eviction papers last month.
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The complaint says Boylan never submitted paperwork claiming Brutis was an emotional support animal until this past summer, according to the station.
Boylan says his doctor gave him a note for the squirrel in July “due to his emotional disability.”
In response to a discrimination complaint from Boylan, the Florida Office of Human Rights sent the condo board a letter saying that emotional support animals were protected under the Fair Housing Act, the station reported.
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“It’s just like with any animal, you can have the nicest dog and they could bite somebody, it’s no guarantee,” Sherry Arfa, a former condo board member, told WFLA. “If it was a gerbil or something that your grandkid had hiding under the bed, I’m sure that would be fine. But a squirrel is a wild animal.”
In Florida, a "service animal" is defined as one that is "trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual or other mental disability."
Parts of the law, including bringing service animals to public areas and guaranteeing people with disabilities equal rights limit the defining to "to a dog or miniature horse."