Priya (sft eng) 23 September 2012

Need suggestion to keep pet in apartment

Hi All,

I am staying in a apartment in Bangalore and we have a lab dog as pet from past 8months.

From the time we got the pet home few people from our apartmment have been asking us to give away our dog as they are getting disturbed when he barks, or when we take him in lift.

I would just like to brief you on how we have kept the pet at home.

1. He is inside the house and to reduce his volume when he barks we make sure to close all the doors and windows so that he is not heard very loud outside.

2. He barks only when he is hungry or has to go out for bathroom, and ocassaionally when someone visits our house.

3. Also we make it a point to clean the corridor if he urinates/sh*ts there.

But even after co-operating so much with the so called association of our apartment, we are seeing that the neighbours are creating a lot of situations like stopping my father-in-law and torturing him mentally by asking us to send away the pet or to vacate the flat. The apartment has made a by-law but this was circulated only after we got the pet.
We are not the owner's of the house we are staying as tenant, As per the association they are saying that the owner's can keep pets but not tenants. I would like to know if such rules can be made by them which is biased to the owner's interest.

One of the tenant even asked us to throw our pet on the road or leave him somewhere and come, we were very upset by this kind of behaviour from people who claim themseleves to be educated and socially responsible. To also let you know they had stopped the water supply to one of our bathrooms and did not take any action after we repeatedly complaint and this was because they wanted us to suffer since as per them we are not co-operating. I was shocked to hear this from one of the association member's.

There were a couple of incidents which shouldn't have happened like.

1. When our dog was some 3months old he just came out accidently and entered into our neighbours house and their father's room but we immediatley got him back. He did not bite or harm anyone he was just playful and entered their house.

2. He had shat in the corridor and we normally clean it immediatley. On one of the days when this happened my m other-in-law had cleaned the corridor but a little was left as there was not much light and she could not see it. For this one of the neighbour spoke very rudely to us.

Also they are complaining that when we take our dog in lift no one else is able to use it at that time and they need to wait.

I find it ridiculous when such things have been made into such a big issue that these days the other members of the association are found mocking us that we are taking so much care of our dog and treat him like our kid.

I really dont know how to tackle these people, I want to make them realise that by keeping pets we are being socially responsible in helping an animal live his life comfortably.

Can anyone please help me with this? Also let me know if there are any such rules by law that can stop us from keeping pets just because we are tenants ?

Looking forward for some help and advice.

Thanks,

Priya

Reply Follow

2 Replies

Naveen Kumar (service) 24 September 2012

Hi,

It's common scenario in Bangalore, expecially in apartments. At the time of drafting Bye-laws Apartment Owners can add what ever the clauses they want, later can alter/delete, if the dispute arises they are settled by Arbitrators [They also appointed by apartment association]. But It's better you check the previous Bye-laws, wherein there is any time limit for change/amend Bye-Laws. You can also talk to your House owner regarding this and settle the matter amicably. Also check with your owner at the time of making this rules whether he was present or not.

I really appreciate your concern about animals, and how do you expect social responsibility from such an educated peoples, Now a days 80% peoples are egotistic. Instead of facing all this problems why cant you look for independent house, so where in nobody will disturb you. As per law You can keep pet animals until and unless it harms others.

Instead of prefer Lab Dog you could have go for Vodafone Dog, no barking [So quite and silent]

Rajarajan (Lead) 14 March 2014

With apartment complexes becoming the norm, it becomes important for pet owners to understand their rights and responsibilities, for the welfare of their pets and their neighbours. Residents sometimes find a letter taped to the notice board (on behalf of the Apartment Association) that says that pets are banned and that owners must either vacate or abandon their pets. “This is tantamount to harassment, and utterly unlawful,”says Anjali Sharma, Advocate, practising at the Delhi High Court and Supreme Court of India, who is an Executive Committee Member of, and Legal Advisor to the Animal Welfare Board of India. “Apartment owners' associations and residents’ welfare associations cannot ‘legislate’. They cannot take it upon themselves to issue ‘edicts’ and restrict rights available to citizens. There is no law enacted by Parliament or any State Legislature that ‘bans’ companion animals. At best, municipalities and local authorities can regulate, or insist on registration or licensing of pets. These high handed circulars and letters suddenly taped to notice boards are therefore illegal. By pressurizing people to abandon their pets in this manner, they actually compel them to violate the law, since Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, declares the same as being an offence.”

https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/society/the-law-on-pet-owners-in-apartments/article5160604.ece