Dog suddenly not allowed

Line777

I just moved to London last month (from Copenhagen) and I made sure to rent a flat where pets are allowed, since it was really important for me to bring my dog. My dog arrived last week, but this evening I met a neighbor who informed me that no pets are allowed in the building and that she will complain to the manager. She told me that there are strict rules about no pets.
My contract says that I am allowed to keep one dog in the flat. The dog is non destructive and trained not to bark indoors (she still has not barked since arriving here, and I doubt that the neighbor would have known about the dog if she had not seen her with me outside my flat). But if she complains to the manager, can I get forced to get rid of the dog? Or move? (I spent most of my savings on moving here, and paying a high deposit, plus I paid six month' rent in advance...)
I am almost too scared to contact the landlord now if he tells me that I am not allowed to keep my dog despite the contract. Is there anything I could do to make sure I can keep my dog here?

eddddy

If you have a contract (a tenancy agreement?) that says you can keep a dog, then you are doing nothing wrong.

BUT... your landlord will be leasing the flat. And the landlord's lease might say that dogs are not allowed.

If that's the case, your landlord has made a big mistake, and is in a big mess. You would probably have to negotiate a settlement with your landlord - like you agree to move to another flat, and the landlord pays your removal expenses.


BUT... it's also possible that the neighbour is wrong (or lying).

You probably need to check with your landlord.

Line777

Thanks! I started to become a bit worried about it since I have not seen any other dogs here. But the flat was even advertised as "pet friendly".

Yes, I mean the tenancy agreement. I guess I will have to contact the landlord about it.

gardner1

As a side note you say your dog hasn't barked since you've been there.....my neighbour thinks her dog is an angel because it never barks,i had to record the noise it makes every day 2 min after she leaves for work/when the postman arrives/and on numerous occasions during the day howling for 5/10 min at a time
Drives me round the f.....g bend when i'm working from home

Mokka

Your landlord might be in breach of his lease and the freeholder could take action against him/ her. This would take months. And if you have a standard assured short hold tenancy it would be very hard to terminate it. Chill ou for now but bear this in mind when you are extending your tenancy- you might want to move.

zagubov

eddddy wrote: »

BUT... it's also possible that the neighbour is wrong (or lying).

You probably need to check with your landlord.

I often find that the more forcefully and vehemently someone asserts something the more skeptical you need to be about it.;)

steampowered

AFF8879 wrote: »

For the time being I would just ignore your neighbour, assuming your dog is not being noisy / otherwise a nuisance then it sounds like she is a busybody who just needs to mind her own business:)

:T

I agree 100%. This sounds like a busybody. How unpleasant and unfortunate to come across that after moving - most Brits aren't like that !

I wouldn't get too upset. As your contract says you can keep a dog you are perfectly entitled to keep one. I doubt the building manager or the landlord will be interested.

moneyistooshorttomention

In your position - I'd be running an objective check to see whether my dog really was being quiet after I'd left of a daytime (eg recorder left on).

If that check revealed the dog was indeed being quiet - then I'd just ignore the neighbour. Reason being = they are the neighbour (so their opinion doesnt count in this respect) and not the landlord (with whom you have a contract stating it's okay to have the dog).

moneyistooshorttomention

zagubov wrote: »

I often find that the more forcefully and vehemently someone asserts something the more skeptical you need to be about it.;)

I grinned at this comment - as I'm rather wondering if it is indeed true - from a couple of incidents I can think of.

Do you mind sharing examples of this you've come across?:)

quantumlobster

this evening I met a neighbor who informed me that no pets are allowed in the building and that she will complain to the manager

"Well hello there, neighbour! Are you the leaseholder or landlord? You are? Marvellous! Behold my contract!. Oh, you're not? Jog on, my friend, jog on."

AnotherJoe

Line777 wrote: »

Thanks! I started to become a bit worried about it since I have not seen any other dogs here. But the flat was even advertised as "pet friendly".

Yes, I mean the tenancy agreement. I guess I will have to contact the landlord about it.

To use an English phase you may not have heard "let sleeping dogs lie". Dont do anything. Worst case you may end up getting kicked out when the LL investigates and finds the lady was correct and evicts you, but the lady did nothing about it so had you kept quiet nothing would have happened.