RSPCA and Mirvac offers in-house pet concierge service to tenants
A Sydney property developer has teamed up with the RSPCA to offer a “pet concierge” service to people living in apartments. It comes as landlords and strata schemes become more pet friendly.
NSW
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New strata laws have made having a pet in an apartment much easier, but no regulation can solve the problem of being stuck doing overtime at work, knowing Fido is languishing unfed in your high-rise home.
But now Property developer Mirvac and the RSPCA have come up with a unique scheme, which they hope will become the norm, where a “pet concierge” will look after your pooch, cat, or virtually any companion animal, in your absence.
Residents who are late home from work or are going on holiday can get the qualified in-house vet nurse to come in and look after the animal.
The service is currently looking after dogs, cats and even a parrot called Basil, but the pet concierge service is open to “looking after any domestic pets”.
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The move has been praised by strata groups and the NSW Tenants Union as a way of making it easier for apartment residents to keep pets.
Mirvac’s head of residential Stuart Penklis said research showed over half of Australians would like a pet but cite high density living as their biggest barrier to pet companionship.
“We know more people are living in apartments and want to welcome a pet into their lives, but many urban spaces just aren’t set up for animals,” he said.
“What we found from speaking to our customers was a real need for an expert service tailored especially for pets and their owners, so we are trialling pet concierge at Green Square for our residents, and the community.”
By 2030, Green Square is set to become the most densely populated area in Australia, with up to 22,000 people per square kilometre — it’s currently 10,589 according to the Department of Planning.
Potts Point has the most at 16,229 people per square kilometre.
Steve Coleman, CEO of RSPCA NSW, said: “If you get stuck in the office and need someone to feed your pet, or you need your dog walked, fed, or even just a spot clean, then our experts are situated in-house and just a phone call away”.
The trial has been running since February and will be assessed in June for a wider rollout. While Mirvac have a staff member assigned to the project, all profits go to the RSPCA.
It costs up to $35 for a visit which lasts about an hour.
Zetland man Nathan Bennett and his partner Heidi Carr have twice used the service for their pooch Romeo.
“Previously we have been relying on friends and one pet-sitting service but we really like the security and peace of mind of having a service provided by the RSPCA,” Mr Bennett, 39, said.
“It’s great that perceptions of pets in apartments has changed. At one point half of the nine apartments on my floor had dogs living in them.”
New strata laws which came into effect November 2016 ensured there is no model by-law banning pets, while the new default by-law is that pets are allowed and the owners corporation must be notified.
In the first quarter of 2019 NSW Fair Trading oversaw 521 mediations in relation to strata living; only 29 of them were related to pets.
Chris Duggan, Strata. Community Title NSW president, said these figures are a sign apartments are becoming more pet friendly.
“We have seen a wholesale acceptance of the fact that pets are they well normalised part of strata living,” he said.
“Most pets that behave badly are ones that don’t have enough attention. The pet concierge is a sensible and innovative way to deal with that.”
Since 2017 the NSW Tenants’ Union has seen a 60 per cent increase in calls about getting permission for their pets in strata.
“It’s definitely a growing issue and the changes in strata law have made some difference, but the general reluctance to allow tenants the ability to make their own choices in their homes is still a widespread problem,” NSWTU senior policy officer Leo Patterson-Ross said.
“It’s great to see Mirvac looking for ways to make it easier to keep pets, instead of harder.”
Originally published as RSPCA and Mirvac offers in-house pet concierge service to tenants
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