The consultation
We asked customers to read and comment on the pet policy to make sure that the wording was clear, that customers could understand the content and knew what was and was not allowed in terms of keeping a pet.
Your views and suggestions
We had some great feedback - so first off, thank you for this. Though there were only 2 responses online, we had a number of customers comment directly to our involvement team
We were pleased to hear that you said that the policy was 'well drafted', 'concise and fair' and was 'easy to read and understand without complex words/phrases'
There were a couple of phrases/words that needed clarification - the use of the term 'livestock' was one example.
There were some other general comments which we responded to but the points were already covered in the policy. For example,
- the requirement that if a customer's pet died, they would need to seek permission for any new pet
- that the owner must provide veterinary care when needed and to not let any animal or livestock suffer when ill etc.
Outcomes
We amended the policy in a number of places to reflect the feedback. Some examples of these changes are below:
- We removed the word 'livestock' from the policy as we do not generally allow livestock
- We amended the phrase 'Any evidence of financial hardship where a pet / livestock would exacerbate the customers situation." to say ‘Any evidence of financial hardship where having the financial responsibility for a pet might make the situation worse.’
- We provided an example of what type of damage to the garden is classed as repayable repair - damage to fencing
- We amended the policy to included that pets’ should have an appropriate ID collar
Customers were generally in favour of permission for animals, but some queried whether there were some generally unsuitable homes for certain animals and whether we could state the rationale for NOT allowing them. In this instance, we did not amend the policy as we do not deem any particular property as unsuitable, as we deal with requests on an individual basis. An example, for when we might refuse permission for a dog, may be if the customer lives on the third floor and has no access to a communal gardens/space.
The pet policy is now available on our website for all customers to refer to.