The appeal judgement in the Cooper case will be remembered well into the future. In my opinion, and I am just a bush lawyer, it’s principles extend far further than just pets. Watch this space.
What the judgement did say was that a man’s home is his castle. It raised a persons right to do what they pleased in their lot above the ability of OC to regulate this via by-laws.
The OC may enact by-laws that place certain reasonable restrictions on an owner of a pet. And I am certain that some buildings will try and make It hard for pet owners. But in my opinion these by-laws are likely to fail.
The wording of the judgement was very clear and was extensive in blocking out the counter arguments.
Pet owners should be thankful that Jackie Cooper had a large enough pocket to take the matter as far as she did. It will likewise require OC and pet owners to have the determination and money to argue against having pets in strata.