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[Boots]

I have a question about dogs and toileting. We have had a dog in our unit for more than two years now. He has always urinated in the gardens of the common property, maybe a couple of times a day. He also goes out onto the street. He never defecates. About three weeks ago, the building manager began sending us emails of complaint about the urinating, claiming that it was damaging plants. I’ve made inquiries and the complaints are originating from one person who is an EC member and on the garden committee. Now we have received an email from the strata manager noting that the by-laws state that we must ‘clean up after your animal’ and ‘ensure your animal is under control’. He now claims that the Community Association has ordered us to not allow the dog to urinate in the common grounds, but there are no written orders as such, just his email.

We are owners and none of this was raised when we were first given permission for a dog, which incidentally was verbal only. They said they’d follow up with written permission but it never came.

My questions are, how reasonable is this? How are we supposed to clean up urination? He is a small dog, and male, so the amount is slight. Does ‘under control’ mean bladder control? And can the strata manager just make up Community Association orders when it pleases him via email? We don’t want any conflict but we love our dog, he never barks or bothers anyone. There are other pet owners in the complex but we seem to be being targeted. Thank you.

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