How Many Visiting Pigeons is Too Many?

Owners Corporation RP000992 v Stock (Owners Corporations) [2020] VCAT 495

Quick Read

This 2020 VCAT decision is about whether a strata owner keeping and feeding a lot of pigeons at a South Yarra, Victoria strata building was a breach of the model rules and should stop because of the impacts on the rest of the building and other strata owners. The primary issues involved the details of the impacts, which model rules applied and how they applied. VCAT decided that there were breached of model rules 1.1 and 4.1(1) and ordered the strata owner to stop providing food, water or refuge to pigeons because it was causing health hazards and obstructing the use of common property pathways covered in droppings. The decision seems obvious but is counterintuitive since it is not based on model rules about pets and instead on more general model rules. Plus, it also means breaches depends on the degree and severity of the impacts. So, determining how many visiting pigeons area okay or too many is more difficult.

Implications

Feeding visiting pigeons in strata buildings can breach model rules under the Owners Corporation Act 2006.
Which model rules apply depends on the details of the impacts of the visiting pigeons on the strata building and strata owners.
In this case, Model rule 4.1(5) about keeping pets did not apply.

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Full Report & Case Details

This 2020 VCAT case involved an unusual situation involving animals in a medium-sized South Yarra, Victoria strata building.

A top-floor strata owner had been keeping and feeding pigeons in and from her strata lot for many years which the strata building and other strata owners strongly objected and wanted her to stop.

The strata building argued that feeding and keeping the pigeons breached the model rules under the Owners Corporation Act 2006 and caused many negative impacts on the strata building and other strata owners and residents including that:

she has kept pigeons for decades and provides food and water for pigeons on her balcony,
the strata owner was an unlicensed aviculturist [a person who keeps and rears or breeds birds],
she washes away pigeon faeces resulting in contaminated water running into other strata lots and an outside common area directly below the strata lot,
the pigeons caused significant damage to common property by their faeces,
the pigeon waste creates a risk to owners and residents due to mould and infection,
the strata owner had changed her balcony to feed the pigeons.

It also relied on a hygienist’s report about moisture, mould, spores, faecal matter, feathers, dander, bacteria, and odour in the apartment, in the building concluding that water that was used to wash away the pigeons’ droppings could be described as ‘Category 3’ water under ANSI/IICRC S500, water that is grossly contaminated, and that it may contain pathogenic, toxigenic, or other harmful agents.

The strata building had issued notices of rule breaches about the problems to the strata owner.

The strata owner opposed the application, arguing the following things:

pigeons had been coming to the property for many years and before she started living there,
she had taken some steps [a mechanical device and a drone] to keep pigeons away,
the pigeons were clean and not diseased,

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Keywords

#VIC #VCAT #pets #modelrules rule1.1 #rule4.1(1) #rule4.1(5) #2020 #OCA2006 #s128