Our esteemed legal sponsors Makinson d’Apice were involved in a case some time ago where an owner insisted he needed a hearing assistance dog to alert him to the presence of someone at his door … which the dog did by barking!?!
Hearing assistance dogs normally alert their owners by physical behaviour. One dubious hearing test and a compliant doctor’s letter led the CTTT Member to the conclusion that it was a valid claim.
The yappy dog was not only allowed to stay but was given permission to bark, despite the plaintiff’s clear ability to overhear whispered conversation.
So what do you do? I would pass a resolution at your next EC meeting that the Owners Corp will actively defend residents’ rights to choose to live in a pet-free building, including taking such legal action as necessary to remove any animals that are not permitted under the terms of the Strata Schemes Management Act.
You will require owners of assistance animals to provide medical evidence of the need for the animal and for the animal to be properly trained and registered as an assistance animal. Failure to provide evidence on either count will result in action to have the animal removed.
Setting out your stall in this way may discourage the owner … but it could forewarn them of the battle ahead. Even so, you can go to NCAT or court having made it clear that you would not tolerate by-law breaches.
Good luck with that.
And before the pro-pet lobby jumps on me, I believe people should be allowed to have pets in buildings. But I also believe owners should be allowed to declare their buildings pet-free if the great majority so desire.