In a recent case, before the Superior Court, an Oshawa condo board tried to enforce their pet by-law against a unit owner, Mr. Morton. The by-law allowed one pet, under 20 kilograms, and leashed to each unit. This rule was not always followed. Mr. Morton the defendant claimed that the condo’s by-law was selectively enforced against him, while other unit owners had more than one pet.

The condo board agreed that other units had more than one pet. The concern with Mr. Morton’s pets were that they were both over 20 kg in weight, and would be off leash, scaring and jumping up on people. Further, these pets had many complaints.

The by-law and section 117 of the Condominium Act, 1998 (Ontario) provides that no one is to allow a condition to exist or an activity to be in place either in a unit or in the common elements if it is likely to damage the property or cause injury to a person.

Even with the evidence of other units having more than one pet, the court found that the board was not selectively enforcing the by-law against Mr. Morton, but they concerned about the safety of all. The court ordered that the pets be removed within 10 days of the decision.

The case called Durham Standard Condominium v. Morton, 2012 ONSC 161 (CanLII) can be accessed by the following link http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2012/2012onsc161/2012onsc161.html.