Why living in a Surfers Paradise high rise is like visiting the zoo

RESIDENTS in Surfers Paradise high rises are facing a major health issue, so significant tradies are refusing to undertake repairs on some towers.

Pets in high rises on the Gold Coast are causing a pong. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

THE increasing number of pets living in high rises is coming at a cost with tradies refusing to repair buildings because of dirty balconies.

“Tenants are toileting their pets on mats-fake grass on the balconies then hosing the urine and faeces off the balconies which in turns lands on the building and balconies on lower levels,” Jan Briggs, a unit owner at The Pinnacle in Surfers Paradise, wrote to the body corporate.

“It has been suggested the body corporate committee are going to be given more control over the pet issue in high rise buildings. Any suggestions on how we manage this environmentally disgusting issue?”

A mini greyhound dog — among the dogs in a Surfers Paradise high rise.

The body corporate said the Gold Coast City Council had been contacted but officers told they had no jurisdiction on dogs inside high rise buildings.

“The painters were saying that some residents hose the waste down the drains and it overflows and stains the tiles and gets into the grout — (you get a) pong,” a body corporate spokesman said. “The balconies have become backyards.

“If I was working with them I wouldn’t put up with it either. Their photographs show faeces by dog bowls.”

The increasing number of pets living in high rises is coming at a cost with tradies refusing to repair buildings because of dirty balconies.

The Bulletin has learned tradies have complained about several Gold Coast buildings, some of which have up to 50 dogs and cats.

Some residents liken high rise living on the Glitter Strip to being “in a zoo” with a published register of pets at one prominent building revealing mini Italian greyhounds, silky terriers, Burmese cats and miniature schnauzers.

Body corporate reform group leader George Friend says all owners must vote against pets if dogs and cats are not to be allowed in high rise buildings. Picture: Jerad Williams

Ms Briggs said some dog owners were working 12-hour shifts from seven in the morning, meaning their pets had to be kept inside.

“People say we love our pets — well live where there’s a yard where they can run,” she said.

Body corporate reform group spokesman George Friend said pets had to be allowed in buildings unless all residents voted to keep them out.

“We’ve got a cat (in our high rise apartment). It’s not presenting a risk. We have protocols in our building.”

Council said it had no jurisdiction under animal management laws because the areas within a high-rise apartment were not defined as public places under the Local Government Act.

A spokesman for the Attorney-General said the State Government was considering the issue of pets in buildings as part of a wider ongoing review.

Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath’s office says a body corporate committee can impose conditions on animals staying in apartments but it “must act reasonably”. Photo Steve Pohlner

A resident should consult the body corporate by-laws and the committee could impose conditions on the keeping of the pet or go to the Body Corporate Commissioner’s office.

Of the 1478 requests to the Commissioner in 2016-17, 160 were dispute resolution applications about keeping animals.