Can a landlord insist that a tenant’s dog be desexed before allowing it to live at a rental property?
That was one of the big questions in a recent Hutt Valley Tenancy Tribunal case involving an 11-month-old Blue Heeler cross.
The landlord feared the energetic young dog could become aggressive, wander the neighbourhood or damage the property.
But the tenant wasn’t backing down, offering a $1,700 pet bond, professional carpet cleaning and a promise to have the dog desexed.
The Tribunal ultimately sided with the tenant, but imposed several conditions, including a firm deadline for desexing.
It’s a fascinating early test of the new pet laws, highlighting just how far landlords can go when imposing reasonable conditions on pet ownership.
