Pet Safety Info and Tips for Condo Owners

Many condominiums allow for pet friendly rentals. Here’s what you need to know to keep you and your pet safe:

1. Make sure the declaration or rules of a condo may prohibit pets, or regulate their type, number, and size. But even if dogs are prohibited by a declaration, this does not apply to dogs assisting persons with disabilities or illness.

2. Moving into a condo with 2 or 3 dogs when the limit is one—a reasonable limit, particularly in a high rise—and using the often-heard excuse of “my real estate agent said it was permitted” is not valid. A letter from the manager should follow requesting that only one dog remain.

3. Breeding pets is not allowed. But if puppies are born, they may stay for a reasonable period of nursing.

4. All dogs have to be on a leash everywhere. Any mess they make is owners’ responsibility.

5. Dogs are often heard barking loudly in condo corridors or from adjacent suites. This situation should not be tolerated because it prevents residents from peacefully enjoying their living area and common elements. Such pets may be removed after written warnings. Dog owners should not feel personally offended if neighbors complain about barking. Residents are not allowed to create undue noise: Neither should dogs be!

6. Under no circumstances are dangerous pets, such as venomous snakes and other fancy venomous critters, allowed in a residential building.

7. Condo guests are not allowed pets in a condo building without written consent by the condo owner.