Dog-owning ban on estates needs a rethink
My dogs are elderly and, due to a long forgotten “no dogs allowed” clause of a deed of mutual covenant, their eviction is imminent.
This rule on private estates needs re-evaluation. We are a sick society when we force people to abandon dogs, some of them very old. Many clauses in documents are written in such dubious ways it is easy to misunderstand their true meaning.
Where I live, the deed prevents residents from owning a dog while condoning the management’s right to keep one for security purposes.
The very notion that dogs are not allowed on the premises except as a guard dog demonstrates how inconsistent and out of sync with the present such clauses can be.
This regulation remained unobserved by estate residents for more than 30 years. Owners were oblivious to its existence, as there was no sign anywhere prohibiting dogs, nor any indication from the management that it was not permitted.
