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We (strata committee in 15-unit block in NSW) have an application from a resident to keep an American Staffy. The dog had been on the property for a number of weeks before permission was requested; however, the owner promptly put in the request when they were told of the need to do so. The applicant has their landlord’s permission and has indicated that they are willing to comply with whatever conditions can be designed to make it workable for ‘non-dog’ people in the building.
My read of the legislation / regulation is that unless this is a restricted breed (which it is not), we cannot use the dog’s breed as grounds for refusing permission. However, before even passing the request to the committee, the strata manager (SM) informed the applicant that the application would likely be refused as the dog is a dangerous breed. The SM attached a newspaper article about the breed’s responsibility for four deaths.
We now have a committee member with a strong belief that we can, and should, refuse permission due to the breed. They have amassed pile of press articles and data about the breed’s danger, and as a result have developed an extreme fear of what will happen to them if they encounter the dog in the common area.
The rest of the committee is reluctant to refuse permission based on the fears of one resident. But it is a breed that provokes strong opinions. Has anyone else come across breed specific concerns, and if so, how did they navigate them? We’re planning to ask for assurances from the foster agency as to the temperament of this particular dog, and their suitability for our strata building, and then to emphasise the need for strict adherence to the conditions on keeping the dog on leash in the common area. Is there anything else we could consider?
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