The three-month-old German Shepherd will not leave his new home in Kamloops, BC, after his teenage owner, Hailey Fiddes, 16, made a heartfelt appeal to City Hall to let her keep the dog despite her rules. The city sets the number of pets per house at two. Fiddes lives with her family and three other dogs plus Tiny. The family was approved by the council in December 2021 to have a third pet and asking for a quarter was a boost to their fortunes. But Fiddes, who is anxious and depressed, went to City Hall on May 31 and argued that the latest addition to the family is in fact a support animal. “This is not a pet request,” Fidesz said during the presentation, her voice trembling slightly. Teenage pet owner Hailey Fiddes feeds her little German Shepherd, Tiny. (Submitted by Hailey Fiddes) Fiddes explained that Tiny has significantly improved her mental health, that she will enroll him in a local academy to be trained as a support animal when she is old enough, and that she should be allowed to keep the dog. After her speech, the council unanimously agreed. “This dog is health to you,” Koon said. Dale Bass, before making the initial proposal to approve Fiddes’s request. Bass praised Fidesz’s philosophy, calling it “amazing” that she had the courage to come to town hall and how important it was to train the dog. Public speaking is frightening for Fidesz, who told the council about her extensive mental health struggles. They heard how she took medication and changed schools last year and how, until she got Tiny, her counselor had not seen any improvement in her. After becoming a dog owner, Fiddes said her anxiety had improved so much that her counselor reduced her sessions from once a week to alternating weeks. “It brings comfort and redirection to how I think,” he said. When Tiny is about five months old, he will go to a support training academy for animals, Fiddes said. (Submitted by Hailey Fiddes) The teenager told CBC that she fell in love with garbage when her family visited the breeder from whom they got their third dog. Fiddes said that the moment she held Tiny, her “very strong” anxiety disappeared. She emailed the town hall asking for permission to detain Tiny and was told her request would probably be denied. Thus, despite previous experiences where her social anxiety had paralyzed her in front of her peers at school, she knew she would have to stand before an adult committee and support her cause. “My dad was standing next to me all the time and I was just looking at the paper, my hands were shaking,” Fidesz said. But in the end, she says her experience has given her two big wins – a small dog and a great sense of accomplishment. The teenager said that facing the council in front of her showed that she is stronger and more capable than she thought, and she hopes she is sending a message to others with social anxiety that they can address their fears. “If it’s something you are passionate about, like my dog ​​and I are, then there is nothing in your way next to your own mental block,” Fiddes said.