It's a Dog Owner's Strata Life
Pets in strata buildings are big news, but it's the owners that matter more ...
The laws and other controls on pets in strata buildings are getting a lot of attention lately. But, in reality, it’s the pet owners and animal basics that matter more. So, let’s focus on more fundamental issues from their perspective based on expert advice …
[3:25 minutes estimated reading time, 626 words]
Introduction
The last few years have been a maelstrom of pet issues for strata buildings, rental properties, and other real estate stakeholders with groundbreaking cases, law changes, dramatic increases in pet ownership, Covid stay-at-home orders, and more.
In fact, New South Wales strata laws changed again last week in relation to pets which I’ll be writing about in more detail very soon.
Despite all these changes [or perhaps because of all these changes], it’s the fundamentals of pet ownership and care by the pet owners that probably matter the most to everyone's experience of pets living in strata buildings.
In other words, if there’s a problem pet, it’s usually not the animal’s fault.
So, let’s focus on the pet owners and animal basics instead and see what experts have to say about that.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal [RSPCA] is, I think, a credible place to go for information about pets. And, the RSPCA of ACT has published an easy to read and helpful guide about dogs living in strata apartments called ‘Should I share my apartment with a dog?’.
The guide covers basic and more involved issues for pet owners who have or want to keep a dog in their apartment including:
pet owner responsibilities,
key pet ownership considerations,
legal controls,
apartment characteristics,
pet exercise & entertainment,
breed guidance, and
ongoing pet care issues.
It also includes references to further reading and information.
Some of the more useful points and comments from the RSPCA ACT’s Guide for pet owners and other strata stakeholders to understand include the following.
Dogs offer wonderful companionship, but that comes with responsibility.
It is the pet owner’s responsibility to exercise, train and socialise their dog.
Since a dog can live from 8–18 years (depending on the breed), this is a huge time commitment without holidays.
Dogs need daily exercise and entertainment. So, what you choose to do in relation to pet exercise needs to suit your lifestyle as well as your dogs.
The lower the dog’s energy level, the easier it is to manage in a smaller area.
Puppies are a huge time investment, so consider the age of a pet dog as well as the breed.
If you meet a dog’s mental and physical needs before leaving for work [do you remember doing that?], the dog is more likely to stay out of trouble due to boredom.
Speaking to neighbours about getting a dog is advisable to start off on an amicable footing.
Consider the suitability of the apartment or townhouse [including balconies] to the dog breed.
The RSPCA ACT Guide also references the website dogbreedinfo.com which has a list of dogs it says are suited to apartment life.*
* I wonder if there’s also a website with a list of people suited to apartment life [just joking].
Conclusions
Since it’s pretty clear that the future is likely to include more pets in strata buildings unless and until they don’t behave, strata stakeholders focus will shift from the pet to the pet owner via rules, monitoring, complaints and enforcement [including pet evictions]. Plus, any controls strata buildings want to impose will have to be reasonable or fair.
So, strata stakeholders need to know what is suitable, possible, and appropriate for pet care based on subjective bases: rather than personal opinions or preferences.
This RSPCA ACT Guide is a good starting point for all of us.
August 31, 2021
Francesco ….