Kelowna dog owner wins legal fight with strata over barking

A Kelowna strata have been ordered to reverse a $200 fine it dished out to a condo owner whose dog was barking.

The Durnin Road strata fined Elizabeth Woods $200 after a complaint alleged her dog 'Willow' was "continuously" barking.

However, Woods disputed the allegation and took the strata to the Civil Resolution Tribunal arguing for the fine to be wiped.

According to a July 15 decision, in September 2021 the strata wrote to Woods saying they'd received a complaint about her dog.

"It has been reported that your dog continuously barks during all hours of the day," the complaint read.

Woods had a hearing with the strata over the noise complaint but lost after the strata found her answers "unsatisfactory" and that she'd breached the noise bylaw and fined her $200.

The strata KAS 2811 also said that Willow would have to be removed if she didn't stop the dog barking within seven days.

However, Woods argued that the strata had refused to provide her with the dates and times of alleged barking which made it impossible for her to defend herself.

The strata argued it gave Woods details of the complaint in writing and treated her in a "fair and reasonable" manner.

"However, the evidence before me does not support this conclusion," the Tribunal ruled.

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The decision says the strata failed to provide any details to Woods about when the alleged barking occurred and it only submitted a neighbour's log of the noise when Woods took the case to the Tribunal.

"I find it was unreasonable and unfair to withhold that information, and not provide particulars about dates and times, until after it imposed the fine," the Tribunal ruled. "The strata says it wanted to avoid a possible confrontation between neighbours, but the strata could have redacted identifying information from the log."

The Tribunal ruled that as the strata had failed to give Woods any information about the times or dates of the alleged barking, she could not defend herself against the complaint and ordered the $200 fine to be scrapped.

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