A Cautionary Tail

Hi all

First time poster, long time lurker. I just wanted to share my experience of applying for permission to have a dog in my 18-unit strata block. I will never live in strata again as a result of this experience.

We bought into the plan in 2013; having first checked to ensure that Option A of the model by-laws regarding pets applied where the OC cannot unreasonably withhold permission. There was no record of any other animals being allowed in the block.

The block is mostly investors, with 6 owner occupiers including us. 4 of these people make up the EC and have been “living here for 35 years or more and there’s never been a dog!”

We submitted a comprehensive pet application to adopt an adult shelter dog, including a management plan which included dog walking and dog sitting during the week, character references and the RSPCA’s guide to dogs in apartments. At this stage the dog is not in the apartment, nor ever has been.

I was present at the EC meeting where they decided they were not going to allow a dog because “there has never been a dog on the lot” and because “this would set a precedent.”

After the EC meeting I wrote them an email explaining why neither of those two reasons were not reasonable, citing previous cases decided by NCAT to that effect. I then requested the minutes of the meeting in writing

The EC’s WRITTEN response was very different from what was discussed in the meeting, probably because the strata managing agent helped them write it. In it, they noted that they had considered all our material and said no because:

• dogs were inappropriate in apartments
• the dog would bark and make noise  
• the dog will soil or damage common property
• Occupational Health and Safety concerns
• potential dog smell
• Being a community minded building with elderly and children and veggie gardens, a dog was unsuitable
• wear and tear on carpet in common property
• the dog would frighten people
• strata insurance liability would be affected
• concerns about providing external service providers with keys to walk to the dog

There was nothing in their minutes about their real reasons that were discussed at the meeting. We wrote to the strata managing agent contesting the veracity of the minutes. No response.

We then went through mediation and adjudication. I submitted statutory declarations attesting to the dogs temperament, citations from NCAT cases that stated speculations and assumptions (aka the concerns from the EC, as there was no evidence the individual dog would behave in the ways they said it would) were not reasonable, and evidence that the EC’s concerns would be reasonable addressed by the imposition of conditions we set out in our application (on leash, pet insurance, commitment to pay for damage to c.p. should any occur).

The EC submitted 6 letters of personal objection on the basis that dogs should not be in apartments because it was cruel, a concern that the dog was a health and safety concern, further assumption and speculation that the dog would bark all day.

The adjudication process took 4 months. Towards the end of that 4 months the shelter dog we wanted to adopt developed an abscess on her tail that required daily cleaning. We took her home while waiting the adjudicator’s decision. 6 days later, the adjudicator’s decision was received, dismissing our application to be allowed to keep her because we had no “direct evidence as to how the dog would behave in the apartment.”

This was extremely frustrating.

How am I supposed to obtain direct evidence of the dog in the apartment if I need permission, and I cannot have permission if I do not have direct evidence?

We returned the dog 10 days after obtaining the adjudicator’s decision and videoed her for a week while we were at work. Meanwhile one EC member has repeatedly (and still is) sent us complaints that the dog is on the property, months after we have returned her, accusing us of being rude, disrespectful, strange, unfriendly, and contemptuous.

I’ve also seen him and by his own admission, he’s been standing at my door recording “dog noises” and taking pictures of our balcony, stating “who knows what they are washing off” alluding to dog waste I’m assuming! I’ve already been to the police and a report has been filed as I am not comfortable with the idea of him standing in front of our door recording.

We filed an appeal. The directions received from 1 NCAT member said not to bother to file any further evidence, that we could rely on what was in our adjudication application. At the appeals hearing, we were told that we couldn’t rely on that and that we should have submitted further evidence!

During my appeals process I relied on common sense reasoning to submit my points – the NCAT Member asked me to quote “the Supreme Court case” on which I was basing my reasoning.

This ENTIRE PROCESS has been ridiculous from the first and I’ve completely lost faith in anything regarding strata.

I’m not sure how to progress – I’ve obviously lost the appeal as the NCAT Member was blatant about his leanings.

I also really want a dog, and obviously bought into my unit thinking that under reasonable circumstances I could have one.

Should I even bother sending in another dog application or just give up completely? For financial reasons I can’t move into a house, and renting would also not be an option for financial reasons.

Just as a warning to others – should your EC decide to disallow your application because they don’t want to set a precedent, DON’T persuade them otherwise. Let them put that in writing and THEN go to adjudication. You’ll have more of a chance if you don’t help them fix their own stupidity! Sorry for the huge post!