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When Your Building's Strata Management Group Bans Animals

19 June 2018 by Jimmy Carr

When you move into a building that is overseen by a strata property management group, it's vital that you read the by-laws in their entirety. Ideally, there would never be a need to dispute these by-laws, and if any aspect of your life or your plans for your home puts you in stark contrast to these by-laws, then the building in question might not have been the best choice for your home. And yet, there are some parts of life that can be difficult to foresee, and future pet ownership could potentially bring you into conflict with the building's strata management. Do they really have the right to ban all animals?

If You Are Considering Getting a Pet

If you are considering getting a pet, it might be time to re-acquaint yourself with the applicable by-laws. Are all animals banned? Or is it only certain animals, such as dogs of a large size? When pet ownership is possible within the by-laws, this can certainly influence the type of pet you might wish to get.

When All Animals Are Banned

If all animals are banned, you might wish to query this matter with your building's strata management group. This can essentially become a dispute conciliation—a form of mediation which could lead to an amendment to the by-laws in question. If the strata property management group opts to uphold a blanket ban on all animals, you might wish to request formal adjudication.

Requesting Adjudication

Adjudicators are accredited individuals (usually assigned by the state government) who can assess the existing by-laws and their legitimacy, in conjunction with your request for an amendment. There have been test cases in which is has been determined that a blanket ban on all animals was unreasonable, although this used the hypothetical idea in that some types of pets, such as goldfish, will be contained in an enclosure and neighbours would not even be aware of their existence. So while an adjudicator might rule that keeping a dog would contravene by-laws to an unacceptable degree, banning a small, caged pet is unreasonable.

Exemptions

There are circumstances in which a strata property management group has no grounds in which to ban an animal. This is the case when you require an assistance animal, which is not a pet as such, and is in fact a highly-trained assistant who happens to be an animal. This is the case when the animal meets the legal understanding of an assistance animal. In this instance, you might wish to inform the strata property management group that the animal will be residing with you, but you do not need to obtain their permission.

So while there might be limitations on pet ownership when you live in a building overseen by a strata management group, there can also be room to negotiate. Contact a strata property management company for more information.

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