Allergies close door on pets in apartment complex
Contact
Jun 13, 2018
Allergies close door on pets in apartment complex
Concerns raised in an apartment building that their resident manager had life threatening allergies to animal dander resulted in a body corporate committee successfully banning a dog from the property.
Archers the Strata Professionals partner Grant Mifsud said the dander case, reported by Brisbane law firm Hynes Legal and involving a dog named Daisy, highlighted the complexity for body corporates in dealing with issues surrounding pets, including disputes between residents over problem pets.
Mr Mifsud said the dander drama followed many Queensland body corporate committees reviewing their pet by-laws following a decision that a by-law containing an absolute prohibition on pets was unreasonable or oppressive.
“Many new by-laws now include conditions that owners have to meet to obtain an approval to keep pets,” he said.
Mr Mifsud said in the matter of the animal dander (the skin flakes, saliva and urine of an animal which can cause an allergic reaction for some people), the resident building manager at the Gold Coast apartment complex had a heart condition and asthma.
“Evidence was put forward that the asthma could potentially be exacerbated by the animal dander and given that the resident manager’s role extended to all parts of the common property, he would inevitably come into contact with animal dander,” Mr Mifsud said.
“It was acknowledged that animal dander could be brought into the strata scheme via occupiers coming into contact with animals outside the scheme. The adjudicator supported the committee’s refusal to allow the pet on this basis, even though the basis for the committee’s original decision did not reference the dander.”
However, Mr Mifsud said the adjudicator did not shut the door completely on the matter, ruling “there may be potential for conditions to be developed which could ameliorate the transmission of airborne allergens and so minimise the risk of any adverse impact”.
Mr Mifsud said the applicant in any complaint about a pet causing a problem in a strata scheme bears the onus to make their case.
“Video footage of a dog barking briefly on one occasion is not evidence the dog is or has been causing a nuisance,” he said.
“There are some complaints made about pet noise when the noise was coming from a dog on a neighbouring property. In all cases, a body corporate must only issue a contravention notice or lodge an application alleging a by-law breach if it ‘reasonably believes’ there has been a breach of the by-laws for the strata scheme.”
If you have a dispute with the body corporate, the committee or another owner or occupier, you must try to resolve it with the other party first. This is known by the Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management (the BCCM Office) as self resolution or internal dispute resolution.
Related reading:
Buyers save millions making apartments their entry point into Melbourne's top suburbs
