Reforms to make life easier for pets, owners

“Time spent with cats is never wasted,” said the father of psychology, Sigmund Freud – and you won’t hear any arguments from Pyrmont resident Nada Greening.

Ms Greening’s constant companion for the last nine years has been a male Birman cat by the name of Charlie.

“My children bought Charlie for me because they thought I needed someone to talk to when my first husband passed away,” she says.

Ms Greening is one of around two million Sydneysiders who lives in a household with at least one companion animal – and in high-density Inner Sydney, this often means sharing a flat or unit with animals.

While Ms Greening hasn’t had any problems with her neighbours or the strata body at her home in the Jackson’s Landing apartment complex, she and other apartment-dwelling pet-owners will soon breathe a little easier.

“Currently, many strata schemes adopt a default blanket ban on all pets, making it difficult for responsible pet owners to find homes,” explains Member for Sydney Alex Greenwich.

“Even in pet-friendly apartments rules can change, forcing owners to give up their companion even if there have been no problems.”

But this situation will soon be rectified, with the State Government adopting recommendations by the Companion Animals Taskforce, which was set up in response to Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore’s calls for an inquiry into the welfare of companion animals.

Responding to a question by Mr Greenwich in parliament this month, the government confirmed it would change by-laws to ensure pets cannot be unreasonably refused by strata bodies.

“This will mean more pet friendly apartments which is welcome news for pet owners looking for a home,” said Mr Greenwich.

“Pets provide owners companionship, security, and health and mental health benefits and owners should be able to find somewhere to live with their pet.”

Ms Greening is one of many who will vouch for the benefits of companion animals, with her experience of pets extending beyond Charlie – eighteen months ago, Ms Greening married her current husband John Trautwein, who was the proud ‘owner’ of Diesel, a Burnese mountain dog.

Diesel sadly passed away two months ago but he was well-known to the Pyrmont community through his daily walks, highlighting the importance of animals to apartment dwelling communities.

In Pyrmont – recently crowned Australia’s highest density neighbourhood, and a suburb where almost everyone lives in apartments – Diesel was almost a communal pet in some ways.

“All the kids loved him. Every day when we go for our walks we still have people asking after Diesel,” says Ms Greening.

“The children would play with him and pat him, and he was just this well-loved Pyrmont character who brought a lot of joy to many people.

“Pets are an importance part of the fabric of a place like Pyrmont,” said Ms Greening.

Mr Greenwich said that while the government had commited to removing barriers to pets in strata-titled accommodation, more needed to be done to make apartment living truly pet-friendly.

“I look forward to working with the government to also remove barriers to keeping pets in rental properties and in retirement villages,” he said.