I want to give a dog to my daughter for her birthday. Do I need to seek permission to do this before purchasing the dog and keeping it in my unit before her birthday?
Lawyer Answers (1): Answers from lawyers are general preliminary responses. They are not formal legal advice and cannot taken account of all your circumstances. They do not create a lawyer–client relationship.
Answer by Neha Sharma, Hillsdale 2036 Sydney
- You should first look in your building’s by-laws. The by-laws can be found as an annexure to your contract of sale.
- If you cannot find a copy of the by-laws you may ask the strata manager to provide you with one.
- Some strata schemes allow you to keep pets with the written permission of the owners’ corporation.
- If your by-law allows you to keep pets you must first lodge a request in writing with the owners’ corporation:
- your request can be sent to the secretary of the executive committee or the strata manager;
- include your reasons for keeping the pet and details about how you would look after it in your application; and
- the owners’ corporation cannot unreasonably withhold its approval.
- Never purchase a pet without first obtaining written permission from the owners’ corporation. It will save you a lot of heartbreak!
- The exception is guide dogs or hearing dogs that are automatically allowed to be kept and cannot be excluded under the by-laws.