Lola the silky terrier evicted from owner’s high rise apartment
TO her loving owners, Lola the silky terrier is very much part of the family. But to her neighbours, she’s a little terror with a lack of regard for others. So much so, they booted Lola out of her owner’s Rose Bay apartment block.
NSW
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HER name is Lola and she’s not a showdog but this tiny silky terrier could be the start of an impending flood of legal battles between Sydney pet lovers and strata schemes.
The pooch, which weighs just 4kg, has been booted from her owner Tracy Cahn’s Rose Bay apartment block because she barks all night, roams free and uses common property such as the garden and pool area like a toilet.
With nearly one in three Sydneysiders living in strata and that figure predicted to skyrocket, legal experts say the case is a sign of changing community expectations about life with pets.
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Single mum Ms Cahn has vowed to fight on after her appeal to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal failed.
Ms Cahn had argued that Lola should not be banned from the 22-unit block on Dumaresq Rd because she is an assistance animal for her 13-year-old daughter Isabelle, who suffers from “debilitating anxiety”.
But in a ruling Ms Cahn said had “devastated” her daughter, the judge found Lola was not a trained assistance animal in November 2017, when the matter was first in court.
The judge said Lola could return if she was trained as an assistance dog.
“This is going to turn into the biggest shit storm strata has ever seen,” Ms Cahn told The Sunday Telegraph.
“You just can’t remove a dog from its family. I am being punished for looking after my child’s mental health.
“There are two or three cats in this block but they won’t let Lola stay.”
The October 9 decision means Lola is now living with Ms Cahn’s mother on the same road, which has mansions worth up to $26 million.
Lawyers for the strata scheme did not respond to requests for comment, although one witness at the original trial said Lola was “barking all hours and defecating or urinating on common property areas including in the garden and in the pool area — the appellant not always cleaning up afterwards”.
The judge found the strata scheme did not deny Ms Cahn procedural fairness when getting the dog removed.
UNSW Law Associate Professor Cathy Sherry said strata schemes were now largely prevented from blanket animal bans.
“Because of new precedents established earlier this year and law changes, we will see more litigation when it comes to pets in strata,” Ms Sherry said.
“We will see more people challenging existing blanket bans, on the grounds that those bans are harsh, unconscionable and oppressive.
“We may also see strata schemes bringing more targeted actions seeking orders to get rid of specific problem pets.”
Since 2015 the NSW Tenants’ Union has seen a 28 per cent increase in calls about getting permission for their pets in strata.
“The increase in pets disputes shows that community expectations are changing,” NSWTU senior policy officer Leo Patterson-Ross said.
“More and more people do expect that rental properties will allow pets unless there’s a good reason not to.”