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Can someone please confirm the NSW law regarding pets on Common Property? One of our owners has had a cat and dog for some time,and we recently asked him to register retrospectively for permission to keep the animals. One of the criteria set out by the EC says that the animals are not normally allowed on Common Property unless supervised at all times. This is not a problem with the dog, but the cat is currently allowed to roam at all hours on the Common Property. I realise that cats do not have a major impact on the common areas, but if we allow the cat to roam, there’s nothing to stop any future owner from having one or more dogs and allowing these to roam. Is the only solution to require the Owner to restrict the cat to his own lot?
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The short answer is yes i.e. your Owners’ Corp can restrict the cat to the Lot, unless you are prepared to amend the by-laws to reflect a different attitude towards cats and common property.
There are lots of ways to allow a cat to experience the outdoors without this including unrestrained access to common property.
Some use a pet stroller.
https://www.worldforpets.com.au/products/46224
I sometimes take my cat outside for a walk using a cat harness. See here: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/25/cat-on-leash-harness-train-cats-walking_n_7656754.html
Cat enclosures can be installed on balconies with the approval of the Owners Corp or a portable free standing cat enclosure can be used without Owners Corp approval.
See here for examples of mesh enclosures for a balcony that would need OC approval: https://catmax.com.au/product-category/catmax-enclosure/
https://www.catnets.com.au/products/cat-netting-by-the-metre
See here for examples of freestanding enclosures: https://catmax.com.au/product-category/catmax-caboodles/
https://www.catnets.com.au/products/freestanding-cat-enclosures
Until recently we had had 40 years of resolutions of general meetings imploring cat owners to keep their cats in at night or have bells etc. Never worked. Couldn’t be policed or enforced. Also, in our area, research has shown that most predation of native animals by cats occurs by day. For example, our suburb is a hotspot for some relatively uncommon ground-feeding parrots.
Now our last AGM adopted a new enforceable rule (ACT-speak for by-law) which requires all animals to be confined to the unit area except when under control and supervision of a responsible person. The rule is species-neutral. It applies as much to a dog or cat or tortoise. Obviously a small tortoise is adequately controlled because it can be easily caught and picked up if it is wandering off to somewhere it shouldn’t go. Some well behaved dogs are OK off lead but others clearly need the lead to be ‘under control’. The main thing is that now, if the animal is unaccompanied, its owner is unambiguously in breach of the rule.
I have two neighbours whose cats are normally indoors but they go out on the common property with their owners. Those particular cats stick close by to their respective owners and that is quite OK within our rules. Others take their cats out on a lead. Some have cat runs that give free access to part of the garden of the unit but not the common property. One cat run is a simple DIY construction with chicken wire. Another is an elaborate commercial product that includes a section slung under the unit’s balcony letting the cat climb. Both these examples are barely visible from outside the unit areas.
Some cats that had been accustomed to roaming were ‘grandfathered’ so they can continue to do so till they die or leave. No new animals will be added to the grandfathered animals list.
@airman342 said:
I realise that cats do not have a major impact on the common areasI disagree…. i smell them every day when i arrive home, clean up their mess in our common area garden, and generally shoo them away from preying on birds and possums. love cats but hate how owners let them run free.
@Madame_Chaire said:
@airman342 said:
I realise that cats do not have a major impact on the common areasI disagree…. i smell them every day when i arrive home, clean up their mess in our common area garden, and generally shoo them away from preying on birds and possums. love cats but hate how owners let them run free.
Risk of toxoplasmosis, especially serious if pregnant and keen on gardening. In our OC we have patches of remnant bush in the city with bird, lizards, and so on. We get quite rare ground-feeding parrots. We have a blue tongue eating the snails just now living in our garden. I don’t want any of that eaten by a roaming cat. Plenty of my neighbours have cats that only go on common property on a lead or well-behaved and stick close by to their owners. A few cats accustomed to roaming are ‘grandfathered’ and allowed to continue roaming but, in time, we will have no more roaming pets of any kind. All may enjoy the common property when accompanied by a responsible person.