Strata laws about dogs: Young woman’s neighbours ‘mean’ over her dog with dementia

A young woman is left in tears and wants to move out after cruel neighbors continue to berate her for her elderly dog.

Sabrina Damiano, 36, bought her dream home last October and moved in with her rabbit and dog in December.

Initially, she was filled with excitement, having ‘done her best’ to afford the house in one of Sydney’s most desirable beachside suburbs.

But soon after, the public relations executive was on the phone with her father, sobbing, after receiving a body “violation” message about her frightened, dementia-stricken dog.

She told FEMAIL that she called her father as soon as she saw the legal note.

“I cried hysterically and told him I wanted to sell immediately, that I didn’t want to be around these people,” she said.

Sabrina explained that Rofie sometimes barked during the day, probably because he didn’t know where he was due to his dementia.

But she has done everything she can to minimize his discomfort, and thus his stress, and is home with him for most of the week.

“I took him to the vet and he was put on the right medication for his anxiety, he takes two tablets a day and herbal supplements.

“I went to PetBarn and spent like $2,000 to buy something that claimed to be helpful for anxiety so I could control his barking,” she said.

She has also shaken off her working week so that he is not often alone at home.

“I send him to doggie day care on Mondays, when I teach at the university, and when I’m at my PR work on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, he’s home.

“I work from home the rest of the time, take him to events when I can and decline invites when I can’t,” she said.

“I also put a camera in the house so I can see when he barks, and when I’m gone he’s usually asleep,” she said.

“I won’t say he doesn’t bark, he does, but he’s a small dog too, at the end of his life it’s not a loud bark,” she added.

Sabrina says she let her neighbors know when she moved in last year, baked them cookies, brought them chocolates and introduced them to Rofie.

She also posted a sign in the common areas explaining that he would bark a little when she wasn’t home, but that she was doing everything she could to reduce it.

But in January, three of her elderly neighbors began expressing concerns.

“One of them called me a young jerk,” she said.

“Another asked me how long he would live, it’s horrible,” she said.

The breach notice she received over the weekend claimed that the barking, which occurs on Tuesday and Wednesday, was an invasion of the “peace and comfort” of the other residents.

It also said another breach could come hand in hand with a $1,100 fine.

After that, the fine can be doubled.

Sabrina, who has worked hard to keep her beloved dog from barking, was shocked by the “inhumane” response.

“I’ve checked the other apartments and no one else has a problem, just these three,” she said.

“The woman who lives next door to me even gives him a treat,” she added.

She added that “he doesn’t bark at 3am.” It’s more likely around the middle of the day, when he wakes up from his morning nap.

She insists she’s a great neighbor otherwise.

“I’m quiet, I don’t have people over, I even watch TV with my Air Pods in,” she said.

Sabrina said she even helped one of the “annoying” neighbors.

“She hurt her back and I opened the ambulance door and sat with her until they came. I gave her water and biscuits,’ she said.

The three neighbors complaining about the dog are “old,” she said.

“This isn’t a retirement village, we’re in the middle of a busy suburb, this is high-density living.” she added.

“There’s noise all around us.”