Leema Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Last week I sent an application to council to request permission to house a fourth dog. Today a council ranger attended my premises, and I spoke to her on the phone this afternoon, and she verbally indicated that I would not be receiving permission. I will receive a letter at a later date. Apparently my property is 'too small' and I am also being refused on the basis of 'proximity to neighbours'. The ranger said that there has been no complaints from neighbours that have been lodged by council, but they want to 'prevent future complaints'. She also noted that there was no visible faeces (another thing that neighbours could complain about). I am really pissed, to say the least. Once I receive their letter regarding their decision, I can then appeal to their 'team leader'. I would love to hear if anyone has had any success with working with councils on dog permissions. I am in Onkaparinga City Council, in South Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zug Zug Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Hmm. I wonder if you could do a few things about it before a decision is locked in stone (i.e. before they write back to you), such as: 1. offer to get a letter of support from each adjacent neighbour, pointing out that your dogs are not nuisance barkers, you are a responsible dog owner, they are happy for you to do it, etc. 2. perhaps agree to some conditions e.g. if the fourth dog were to lead to any complaints in future, you agree that you would rehome one of the 4 dogs at that time (after giving yourself a reasonable amount of time to address any issues, of course) ??? Perhaps call them and get a feel for what the key issues are. I suspect it's barking/noise concerns. So if that's the case, then getting support from your neighbours could be very powerful. I would get in now, before they put their decision in writing. If that fails, you could go to your local Elected Member to request support. But I would be getting support from the neighbours first. Without that, I doubt you would get very far because the Council would need to take into account any concerns they may have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airedaler Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 (edited) We have 2 acres and are allowed 2 dogs. For years we had a permit for more and then for some reason the council did not send the renewal for it. This was at a time when we inactive with breeding etc. Anyway our dog numbers went up to 4 which were all registered with the council just did not have a permit issued. For some reason 2 dogs were in my husbands name and 2 in mine and stupidly I said they could all be changed into one name. Of course they then twigged that I had 4 and needed a permit. The council sent a letter to each (6) of our adjoining neighbours seeking any objections. Only one neighbour replied and said they had no issue. We were granted our permit and it is renewed each year but when each dog dies we are required to advise the council and they reduce the number on the permit. I guess we could add another one but we do not wish to have any more than 3 now. The silly part is that if our block was subdivided into blocks the average size around here there could be at least 20 dogs on the land. I would take the advice someonewrote earlier and approach you neighbours at least seeking what sort of response the council is likely to receive if they ask. I do see the fence issue as a major one and maybe you will need to do something about that and also the size of your block which you cannot do much about. Good luck Edited December 19, 2012 by Airedaler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indigirl Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Time to move to NSW.. Or get big fences and register one of the dogs at a relatives address Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 How many can you have in NSW? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leema Posted December 19, 2012 Author Share Posted December 19, 2012 Airedaler - I don't have any fence issues I will see if I can get neighbours on side. I don't really have much to do with any of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I think Airedaler might have misread faeces as fences :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indigirl Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 How many can you have in NSW? There's no limit. Only get problems if you get neighbours complaining, I have 11 dogs at my place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dezzyno.1 Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I have just gone through getting a 3 dog permit on a average sized house block....we had to get all neighbours on each side (which I couldn't due to having ongoing problems with one neighbour) and at the back to sign the form with their phone numbers stating they had no objections to us having 3 dogs.....because of their breed and my next door neighbour I had to get mine temperament tested which the vet found very amusing considering I am very heavily involved in the local dog obedience club.....the next door neighbour made many phone calls to the rangers but in the end they got sick of her too.....I now have my permit and I even got names of people across the road in support (one of which was an ex ranger) lol.....I would suggest you go around to your neighbours and sign a paper stating they have no objections to you having a 4th dog....some councils are really stupid and my local council is no exception....good luck and if you want to talk further about how I obtained my permit please do not hesitate to contact me....I went through lots of visits and even with them knowing one of my dogs is a therapy dog :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airedaler Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I think Airedaler might have misread faeces as fences :) You are right I did indeed, not only once but several times. Apologies to Leema Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Here the license in this scenario is renewed yearly so each year you have to hope/pray any new neighbour approves otherwise you are in a pickle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christina Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 It is getting tougher. In the 90's sometime, forgot exactly, I got a permit for 5 in the Port Adelaide council area, before they joined with Enfield council. I had to submit written letters from my immediate neighbours either side but lived on a corner so only one there & from the person who lived behind me. No problem, they all wrote the letters. No visit from anyone. My block was about 700 square metres from memory. They were pretty relaxed about it. Had to pay for the permit every year. May have changed now, no idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 How many can you have in NSW? There's no limit. Only get problems if you get neighbours complaining, I have 11 dogs at my place. *Starts looking for a job in NSW* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 (edited) Gremlins Edited December 19, 2012 by Aussie3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julesluvscavs Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I asked ours a while back the council about getting a permit for a 3rd dog here at our place in Goolwa. They said there wouldn't be any problems mostly because of the breed of dogs being small. Weird thing tho you can't actually put the permit in until you have the 3rd dog !! too bad if they refuse you then They just said it wouldn't be an issue unless the neigbours were too complain on numerous occasions. I guess if we were to have bigger type dogs then it might be a different story? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chezy Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I am pretty sure that my local council area restricts dog numbers to 2 or 3 in suburban areas .I looked at the site and couldn't find it . I am going to pound later will ask . Never heard of a unlimited number of dogs allowed in NSW before Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarope Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 (edited) Glad I don't live in SA. because in NSW councils have no legal right to tell you how many dogs you can or can't have, some will try to stand over you but you just ignore them. :D Edited December 19, 2012 by tarope Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juice Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 It is unlimited here, i have had upto 6 with fosters over the years. I can't imagine someone telling me how many dogs i can own Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_PL_ Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 (edited) The NSW legislation doesn't set limits and won't interfere as long you get no valid noise/smell etc complaints and of course, keep your pets well. Local councils can pass bylaws limiting numbers although I've heard some have legally disputed these bylaws and State law came out on top. eta: I do mean pets, if you run kennels or breeding facilities it comes under a different Dept: DPI Code of practice and DA council stuff. Edited December 19, 2012 by Powerlegs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Wow, I'm so moving! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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