Question: An owner regularly pet sits more than one dog at a time. It’s unnerving to not know what dogs will be on common property. Do residents need approval to have visiting dogs at their unit?
Can an owner / committee member pet sit dogs for friends? They bring large dogs into the complex to stay overnight. They also have friends who come over with dogs and stay for hours. Sometimes there can be up to four dogs in their apartment. No request has even been made to the body corporate for approval.
I love dogs and I am happy for residents to have a pet, but I find it unnerving if you don’t know what dogs will be in the stairwell or in common areas.
We are in a small block of units in a building format plan. We by-laws state that approval must be granted to keep a pet. Given all the changes to the keeping of animals in Queensland body corporate properties, where do we now stand ?
Answer: Review your by-laws. Don’t just look at the pet by-law, also look at other clauses such as noise or damage to common property.
The owner could be in breach of the by-laws or the act, so you might want to consider the ways that could be occurring and then take follow up action.
First you need to review your by-laws. Don’t just look at the pet by-law, also look at other clauses such as noise or damage to common property. Having a friend’s pet attend the property might not be a breach in and of itself, but there can be other clauses that apply.
Then, you might want to have a chat with other committee members or the owner themselves depending on your relationship. You mention that yours is a small scheme, so it can be important to maintain neighbourly relations in ways that may not apply to the distance of a larger scheme. Perhaps there is a way to have a conversation and find some middle ground that can satisfy all parties. It may be that your neighbour doesn’t realise they are causing you a disturbance and it might just be that the fix is simply to point this out.
Failing that, you can request the body corporate issue a breach of by-law notice against the owner or you can take individual action as an owner. If the owner doesn’t make changes it may be that you need to proceed the matter to the Commissioner’s office.
A further consideration is whether the owner is helping friends or running a business. If you thought it was the latter, perhaps you could alert council and they might get involved. Some councils require special conditions for owners who want to house more than two pets and that restriction could be considered here.
If your by-laws don’t really give you the answer, they may need an update. As it is not really possible to reject reasonable pet applications, many schemes are adapting their by-laws to better regulate how pets behave in body corporates. This can include by-laws that look at when they should be on leads or if they should be carried. Speak to a strata solicitor to get some help with drafting a new by-law.
This post appears in the December 2022 edition of The QLD Strata Magazine.
William Marquand Tower Body Corporate E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au P: 07 5609 4924