Airbnb and its pet policies

[Donata12]

I believe there is a real URGENT need for Airbnb to finally clarify its pet policies. Pet policies should apply based on laws and regulations of the host's location and not Airbnb TOs as they cannot overrule local jurisdictions. There is way too much confusion on this topic and the result is that hosts are always nailed or held hostages of bad reviews and inconsistent support from the platform  and its CMs.

Most urgent is:

1. define and limit allowed dogs to Service Dogs Only. These  are recognized in most countries. 

2. Get rid of ESAs (emotional Support Dogs) . This is mainly recognized in the States and anybody can get a certificate (false) on line so it should not be even included in TOs

3. Hosts are not hotels and they don't host in hundreds of rooms. Allow hosts to collect a Pet fee that has to be high enough to ensure that after a pet stay deep cleaning and air filtration is performed. Avoiding to do so puts allergic guests at risk.

4. Educate all CMs to offer consistent support and help throughout the platforms when it comes to pet rules. This is more easily done when only Service Animals are considered.

5. Make is mandatory for guests to disclose the presence of a Service Animal. Sneaking in of any animal should be not endorsed under any circumstance.

We really need to voice this concern once and for all, nobody never knows how to behave and react and this is not right!

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

Amen to that. 

[Heather133]

@Donata12 I couldn't agree more. In my experience people with Service Dogs have been a bit more up front. 

I had an issue with guests who brought an emotional support dog with them to a townhouse about 15 feet away from a ski lift. The complex does not allow dogs. The guests let the dog run around the slopes next to the ski lift. When I asked them about it they produced a letter from a psychologist that had expired a year earlier. It said the guest need the animal for flying. They had driven here.

More importantly, I have guests who have severe pet allergies and choose specific properties because they can't stay in a place where there have been pets. For that reason, I think it's unfair that properties that are not pet-friendly are forced to accept pets.

[Donata12]

@Heather133 I totally agree. This has been an issue for so long and I am surprised to see little interest from hosts. I am in several groups on Facebook and the pet rules seem to be the ones most felt because of the lack of clarity from Airbnb.

[Ann489]

@Donata12I disagree with you on one thing; there IS A LOT of interest from hosts to see the pet issue addressed by Airbnb.  All you need to do is search this forum and you will find dozens of threads.  

[Donata12]

@Ann489 oh there is a lot of interest and requests for support from hosts but Airbnb is doing nothing. That is what i meant.

[Alexandra316]

@Donata12I do accept dogs at my Airbnb, and I still feel that the Airbnb rules around ESAs are ridiculous. In Canada, the only thing guaranteed if you have a "legitimate" ESA is that you can travel with them on airlines. If a host has decided that they do not wish to host animals at their property, they should not be forced to accept ESAs. Airbnb is overstepping, in my opinion, and it really does a disservice to hosts. So often, though, Airbnb just doesn't care about rules that only negatively affect the host, so there is not impetus for them to change them.

Legitimate service animals are a different kettle of fish, but any complaints I've seen from hosts on these boards are not regarding actual, genuine service animals that are trailed to perform a specific task, and I suspect they're not the issue in 99.999999% of cases. 

Hosts have been asking for a way to charge a pet fee or deposit the entire time I've been hosting also, and it's fallen upon deaf ears. It has to be the most asked-for feature on these boards, but it's been totally ignored by Airbnb. 

[Colleen253]

@Alexandra316 ABB is overstepping for sure, and I think it's an even bigger disservice to severely animal allergic guests. Re my comment below, I wonder how the day to day reality of ABB's assistance animals policy affects them? I would love to hear someone in that camp chime in on how they handle booking accommodations safely, in light of it.

[Donata12]

@Alexandra316 you are correct. I am in Ontario as well and i know that by law i have to accept service animals an dthat is about it. However, there is still a lot of confusion on the topic and hosts, no matter where they are and also outside of the USA where ESA are allowed, are always scrambling trying to understand what to do. There is a lot of misinformation on other groups on Facebook as well. The majority of hosts, even here in Ontario, believe that we are mandated to accept ESAs.

Maybe we should start a petition to get Airbnb attention?

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Donata12 , thank you for bringing up this topic, the idea of being forced to allow anything but human animals to stay in our suites seems ludicrous.   I'm 100% supportive of ADA and what it has done for access but certain situations require more consideration than policy or law, I too keep our suites animal free due to allergens, cleaning issues and our full time animal in residence rescue pup "Maddy", she is our little Yorkie poo resident announcer.  She lives in a gated community of sorts that doesn't allow her to get anywhere near the guest areas but she will announce every guests coming and goings briefly, we put that bit of info in the listing so guests that cant tolerate that don't book.  What Maddy wont tolerate ever is animal visitors, she starts barking the second she even thinks there is an animal intruder inb the house and doesnt stop until she is sure they are not in the house, I also disclosed that bit in the House rules.  So far, I haven't ever had to host a doggy guest inside the house (though I had one sleep in their car without any issues), I hope the warnings are enough to keep those that need a place that can host them and their animal from testing the waters here cause I don't think anyone wants to listen to that all night.  

[Colleen253]

@Donata12  I agree and think this issue is important. I shake my head at how ABB's policy on assistance animals is actually discriminating against guests who have severe allergies. Because they lump service dogs and emotional support animals in the same category, it essentially means anyone can bring their pet to a 'no pet' listing without even asking first, or disclosing it at all. Guest can simply claim it's an emotional support animal, not have to have papers or proof of any kind, and not have to tell you they've brought it. So you might not even know it's been there (I would hope that most guests are not unscrupulous enough to play the system on this policy, but the reality is many do). So, what about the pet allergic guest who then books that no pets listing thinking they are ok? It's a problem for them for sure. I wonder how they deal with it? Maybe someone in that camp will chime in.

[Patrick568]

Totally Agree!! The problem is as hosts we have no real way to apply pressure on AirBNB.

[Kevin1322]

yes I agree.

In my locale pet regulations are way higher than providing for humans. we get by on a loophole as the pet is travelling with it's human, but the moment we offer to "dog sit" or mind the (eg) dog while the owner goes out for the day we are in a world of paperwork, permits and licenses and inspections, and we have to pay for all this to be licensed by the local council.

I don't disagree with these regulations at all, by the way.  But is very difficult to pass on these overheads to a guest.

[Laura2592]

I cannot for the life of me figure out why there is not a button for number of pets on pet friendly reservations and the ability to charge a pet fee. This seems very basic. Talking about regulations and ESAs is great (and I agree) but if we can't even get a way to record that guests are staying with pets or charge for that, I don't have high hopes for more nuanced changes. 

[Daphene0]

@Catherine-Powell   I am in total agreement the "Pet Policy" needs to be addressed.  I love dogs and own 2 but I have a "no pet policy" because I have no way of knowing if the guests pet is housetrained, a chewer, a shedder or a barker.  The AirBnB policy, in my opinion, needs to be re-written to become more Host friendly and more inline with the legal regulations for Service Animals and Emotional Support Animals.  As a Host, I should have the option to charge a "Pet Fee" to cover any type of damage and additional cleaning due to allowing Service and ESA pets.  Hotels, if they allow pets, allocate specific rooms to guests who wish to bring their pet.  If you are providing your whole home, this becomes an issue for future guests who may have an allergy to pet dander and as a Host, I should not have the burden of incurring additional cleaning expenses.