Let’s talk about pets

A potential resident can research the pet policy of a village before they walk through the front gate. The above screen shot taken from Villages.com.au which gets over a million views a year from people considering a retirement village or land lease community.

What ‘no pets without rules’ really means is that there are some safeguards in place to ensure the pet is appropriate for the living environment.

Not all pets are suitable for community living. There is a difference between a resident moving in with a small/medium dog, compared to moving in with a larger breed. If a small dog would be approved, so would a cat.

In a retirement village, the concern goes one step further. It is important, from the operator’s perspective and the residents more widely, that the pet owner (resident) is capable of caring for the pet, and that there is a plan in place should the pet survive the owner.

Again, the conversation happens before a person makes the decision to buy – and will influence their decision if they are a pet owner. (In some cases, it may even sway the decision of someone who doesn’t like pets – yes, these people exist and live happily in retirement villages too.)

The reason the conversation happens in advance is because the Village Manager or Sales Manager want to ensure the potential resident understands their responsibility as a pet owner in a retirement village. That is, the conditions attached to approval to move in with a pet.

Provided the resident can demonstrate they can care for the animal, then they will be welcome to bring the pet with them.

Where this becomes problematic, is the replacement of a pet. A pet owner is a pet owner. The resident will, typically, survive the life expectancy of their pet, in which case they may request to replace the animal. In this instance, the Operator might choose to say this is not appropriate given the age of the resident and concern with their ability to raise a puppy (more so than a kitten), or generally care for the animal.

At all times, the Operator must also have the care of the animal in mind. No one wants to send a loved pet off to the RSPCA should the pet survive the resident, or the resident’s health deteriorate to the point where they can no longer care for their fur baby.

Now, like with strata living, rentals or any other type of community living, there might be instances where pets are not allowed. Again, the potential resident will know this in advance of buying into the village. That said, the pet policy in a village can change over time through consultation between the operator and the residents, collectively.

Interestingly, the Pet Policy by DCM Institute is one of the most downloaded documents in our resource library. Contact us if you’d like to know more.