Two CityPlace condominiums have banned new pets from being kept in the buildings in the wake of a number of complaints about everything from animals urinating in elevators to growling at residents in common areas.

The ban was actually passed by the condo board overseeing 3 Navy Wharf Crt. and 5 Mariner Terrace back in 2016 but a decision was made not to enforce the rule until this summer.

Resident Jen Fischer told CP24 that she responded to a request to register her dog last year but wasn’t given much of an explanation at the time about why that step was required.

She said that she only learned of the ban when she was “confronted” by a concierge while bringing her foster dog “Tofu” into the building recently.

She said that after that interaction she received a notice from the property management company responsible for the building advising her that the foster dog had to be removed from the premises within two weeks.

Her own dog was grandfathered in because they had been registered prior to the rule going into effect.

“Maybe they should deal with people who actually break the rules, like having their animals defecate places they shouldn’t, rather than doing a full ban on everyone. It is really unfair,” Fischer said. “It is hard enough for renters to find places that are pet friendly in Toronto so I think by this is creating a really dangerous precedent in CityPlace.”

Petition launched

Fischer has since launched an online petition in order to gain support for overturning the ban, however she may have her work cut out for her.

In order for a special meeting to be called to discuss the ban, Fischer would have to get the support of at least 15 per cent of the 597 unit owners at the two buildings.

“There is a clear divide among residents who are pet owners and residents who are non-pet owners,” Gary Pieters of the CityPlace Residents Association told CP24 on Wednesday. “There are issues with some pets and they are the exception not the rule but it does create tension. They are being allowed to run in non-off-leash areas, they are growling at residents in the lobbies, urinating in the elevators and urinating from balconies and down onto other people’s balconies.”

Fischer said that she is hopeful that the condominium board will consider overturning the ban and replacing it with other less punitive measures, such as a ticketing system that would penalize animal owners who break the rules.

For his part, Pieters said that the whole saga underscores the need for additional spaces to accommodate animals in high density neighbourhoods like CityPlace, where there are an estimated 7,000 pets.

“There is 30,000 people and there is one park and that one park has a little tiny temporary dog run and there have been clashes between dog owners and non-dog owners over the use of the turf. It is not a place where dogs should be but that is where a lot of owners take their dogs to exercise,”: he said. “Built environments should account for that large scale number of fogs and the city did not account for it.”