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.
“I am not sure how any animal that weighs less than 2 pounds
can harm anyone,” he told WFTS-TV.
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.
“There’s just no way I would give her up,” he told the
station in a report Friday.
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.
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. |