Question: Our strata block has had an application for a pet. We don’t mind about the dog being in the building but want to make sure there aren’t any offending odours from the toileting of the pet. Is there a template bylaw for addressing this?
We have recently had an application for a pet in our strata block. We aren’t too concerned about the dog as such, it’s more to do with my environmental conditions etc the “toileting” of the pet.
Many of our balconies face the common garden lawns. We are fearful of no longer being able to open our balcony sliding doors for ventilation due to the toxic, lingering urine stenches in the vicinity area.
As a resident of the building, can I request NO toileting of pets on common grounds/ garden lawns be added as an extra condition to the pet bylaw? If so, how do I word the request correctly?
Are there any example prototypes of other extra conditions regarding the pet bylaws I could refer to?
Answer; In terms of how you word this correctly, or whether they are any templates available, we recommend you get in contact with a law firm that has experience in strata law.
The issue of environmental conditions in strata communities is one that has come to the fore over the last two and a half years. Living in the close confines of a strata community requires tolerance (sometimes great tolerance) of others in all manner of aspects.
That does not mean that everything should be tolerated. Your concerns regarding how a pet owner toilets their pet are valid and reasonable.
The Owners Corporation may wish to impose conditions on the application that largely conform with the provisions in the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (“the Act”) and Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016 (“the Regulation”). Any conditions imposed on the application must be reasonable so as to not be harsh, oppressive or unconscionable, and the Owners Corporation ought not unreasonably refuse permission to keep an animal.
Section 36A of the Regulation provides circumstances in which the keeping of an animal is considered to unreasonably interfere with another occupant’s use and enjoyment of a lot or the common property. One of the circumstances referred to in section 36A(f) of the Regulation is where an animal causes a “persistent offensive odour that penetrates another lot or the common property.”
You can request the inclusion of a condition that states that the dog must not be permitted to urinate or defecate on common property or common ground/lawn areas. This means that even if the strata scheme’s by-law relating to the keeping of animals is an older model by-law, the Owners Corporation has recourse against the pet owner if the animal causes an unreasonable interference in the circumstances referred to in section 36A of the Regulation and under section 137B(2) of the Act.
It is recommended that the condition also make provision for what a pet owner must do if (or when) the eventual “accident” happens and the dog does relieves itself in one of the common areas. This could be requiring the pet owner to “take any action that is necessary to clean all areas of the lot or the common property that are soiled by the animal” (By-Law 5(3)(c), Schedule 3 to the Regulations).
In addition to the conditions referred to above, other conditions the Owners Corporation may consider including are:
- that the animal be kept within the lot
- the animal be kept on a leash at all times when on the common property
- the animal be supervised when it is on common property.
In terms of how you word this correctly, or whether they are any templates available, we recommend you get in contact with a law firm that has experience in strata law. They can either amend the animals by-law you already have in place, or draft a new one.
This post appears in the November 2022 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.
Nancy Torry Bugden Allen E: nancy@bagl.com.au P: 02 9199 1055