Re: A Cautionary Tail

Whale – this is our by law:

1) You must obtain the prior written approval of the Owners Corporation, before keeping any animal, except fish in a secure aquarium, on a Lot or the Common Property.

2) The approval of the Owners Corporation cannot be unreasonably withheld

We have the by-laws in writing and informed our solicitor of how important it was that the building didn’t ban dogs, as that was a major factor for us when we purchased. With that view, he reviewed the strata report and by-laws and confirmed that the by-law did not outright ban dogs. I also checked the by-laws before purchase just for my own peace of mind! 

There was no record of any other animals being allowed in the block

What I meant here was that the strata search did not show any record of previous pet applications being sent to the Owners Corp, and so there was no record of them approving or denying any pet application. There was no information one way or the other to indicate how dog friendly the building was before I purchased – all I had to rely on was the by-law. 

During the EC meeting when they discussed my application (I was present as an owner) it came out that years ago a tenant had a dog without permission. The dog was allowed to poop on the balcony and the owner then washed it off onto the unit beneath. Horrifying stuff, so I understood their concerns and tried to allay them by confirming that the dog is potty trained on grass, and committed to not allowing the dog on the balcony unsupervised, and ensuring she had an indoor potty to use. We were not ever planning on leaving her outside on the balcony; while at work we were planning to confine her in our tiled kitchen with the indoor potty, so to my mind there was no risk of this occurring. Anyway, the EC sent the tenant a Notice to Comply, and the dog was removed.

However, there was nothing in the strata report that indicated this past history. Had there been we would have progressed with the purchase with more caution as it would have been a red flag that the building wasn’t dog friendly. We conducted our own search a few months back and there are definitely no minutes on record to indicate that a Notice to Comply was sent to get rid of a dog.

Also, cats are allowed in the building and no written permission is necessary. During the meeting I was asked “why don’t you have a cat” and “why don’t you move out and buy a house if you want a dog.”

These guys have lived here for 35 years – a fact they constantly remind me of – so why haven’t they, at some point in the 35 years changed the by-law to one that banned dogs? Had they done this I would never have bought into this strata scheme and this whole farce could have been avoided. 

The EC did try to change the by law to the Option C Model by law, which bans all animals, during this years AGM, halfway through the adjudication process. We flyer-ed the other owners, who all turned up (to the surprise of the 4 EC members, one of whom remarked that it was the biggest turn out in years) and the motion was defeated with 45% of the poll voting to keep the “pet-friendly” by law. 

These people frighten me.  More Soothsaying – who’s living there, the cast from Macbeth?

JimmyT – you made me lol! Thank you for your response, it’s made me feel a little better!