Societies creating ‘no pet’ zones

 

Carmel Kavidi (name changed) resident of Methodist Colony in Begumpet said, “I have a nine-month-old labrador. During house-hunting, we came across five instances where the apartment associations had a no pet policy. It was the same case in Umanagar Colony and a few places in Somajiguda. When asked, the association members said that they feared pets harming kids, dirtying the place and even cited more water use.”

 

Another pet parent added, “In most of the websites for rentals in Banjara Hills, Vidyanagar, Kukatpally and Dilsukhnagar and even gated communities, it is boldly mentioned ‘pets not allowed’ even if the house owner is willing.”

 

According to legal experts, housing societies can frame their own laws, the laws are called by-laws of apartment/housing societies and these rules govern day-to-day functioning of the society and are crucial to its smooth running.

 

An association member said, “These guidelines are framed under the Co-operative Societies Act. It provides specific guidelines for a society to be registered with the municipal corporations, its governance structures, common area maintenance rights, do’s and don’ts for owners and tenants, accounting practices and various other covenants related to leasing/purchasing a house within the society.

 

Housing societies have the right to enforce their rules, whether it is a policy on no pets or parking or even based on eating habits.” Vasanthi Dadi, founder member of Blue Cross and People for Animals said, “Nobody has the right to shape a policy against pets as the law itself permits Indian citizens to have pets; the law no way forbids anyone to have a pet.