[FESTIVAL] Hosting pets

[Liv]

This topic is part of the CC Hospitality Festival.

The original topic was posted on the Italian-speaking Community Center by @Antonella78 , and we have translated it below.
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Traveling with pets is becoming increasingly common nowadays, as families tend to travel together! According to the Eurispes 2020 Report, almost 4 out of 10 Italians have a pet in their homes. In almost 50% of cases, it is a dog, followed by birds, turtles, fish, hamsters, rabbits and other animals. More than half of all pet owners travel with their furry friends at least once a year.

So, the option of also opening the house to animals accompanying the guests is a great idea.

I'll tell you about how I manage animal guests, because I'm a pet lover and have always had cats and hamsters at home. After a few months of hosting, once we'd had a few guests and were feeling more relaxed, we decided to extend our offer to include pets. We saw that thorough house cleaning would eliminate the chance of future guests experiencing allergies and we were not afraid of things getting broken: the house has functional furniture (from IKEA) and is very easy to clean.

I know that having pets involves planning vacations all together and trying to take them wherever you go, so we decided to accept them and make it easier for guests to organize their vacation. I think pets are part of the family, and I hate the idea of leaving them alone in boarding kennels. I always look for a pet-friendly house when I go on vacation so that I can take my cat Tiger with me. My house is also close to a park with special areas for dogs, so it is often booked precisely for that reason.

Fortunately, the house is spacious, with no valuables, all the fabrics are machine-washable, and there are no carpets, decorative curtains or ornaments. Naturally, it is better not to leave too many objects lying around as a dog (or even a child!) could break them. Books or magazines should be placed on a bookshelf and a place should be prepared in the kitchen with a tray and two steel bowls. I provide a cover for the couch and always leave a mop, cloths and detergent handy in case guests need to clean up.

I'm sure this is a valuable option; I think it might be part of Airbnb's non-discrimination and inclusion policy. I feel that I'm seen as a more open and tolerant host, and this is one of the advantages of my house, which is booked mostly by families.

So "belonging anywhere" is also a feasible goal for pets.

For me, accepting pets is also a way to combat their abandonment at vacation time and to make vacations more enjoyable with everyone together.

Antonella

[Loni56]

meus convidados podem trazer animais

 Nem uma rejeição quanto isso

Parabéns!!Att Loni 

[Laura2592]

@Liv thanks for posting this! And I am especially pleased to see some kitties in the photos. People always think "dogs" when they think "travel with pets." Many hosts are very biased against cat guests. We have hosted close to 100 stays with pets at this point and and noticed no difference in damage or clean up between cats and dogs. Cats can be fabulous guests!

(I will ask again for ABB to create  a "pets" button in the reservation. This would be a fantastic way for non-pet hosts to weed out the requests and for pet friendly hosts to understand who is coming to their space.)

[James2853]

I 100% agree with AirBnB adding a pets button for guests to check during reservation process as we've had guests decline to pay the pet fee after check out.  VRBO has this and makes things a lot easier as far as knowing who will be occupying the residence and for pet fee to be automatically charged!

[Rita662]

Hello everyone

I am a pet owner, so it was obvious for me when I joined Airbnb to accept pets. My pets are a family member, so when I travel they come along; besides try to leave a dog or a cat in a kennel; my dog starts crying,  it breaks my heart. 

I accept dogs and cats, I even put a photo of my partners cat ("Etna") in tlhe listing phtos, so guests would know that cats are also welcome.

All the guests I had , makes a pre aprovall reserve asking if there  is a problem if they bring a pet. I leave snacks and a blanket, in case the pet wants to join in the sofa. I ask the guest if they need bowls or sand and liter (if they have a cat).

Everyone is welcome 🙂

I leave you a photo of Etna in my listing.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

we host dogs but not cats. We had our own cats for many years and they like to jump on the curtain if they spot a fly on the window, some will spray to mark the territory and sharpen their nails on the carpet or the beds. It seems too risky.

Our guests with dogs were all great.