Hi from the mountains of North Carolina

[Catherine-And-Gary1]

I'm excited to be part of the AirBnB host community. I'm wondering how many hosts have had guests come with emotional support dogs? We are about to add our second AirBnB. Our current AirBnB is a house and guests have the whole house and we allow dogs. Our second AirBnB that we're adding soon will be an apartment in the house we live in. Because we have 2 dogs and we don't want guest's dogs having a barking contest with our dogs, we aren't planning on allowing dogs. But I understand that if a guest has an Emotional Support Animal we will have to allow it. Has this been a problem for anyone?

[Lorna170]

@Catherine-And-Gary1   Technically, no one has to accept ESA's, i.e., emotional support animals.  You only have to accept true service animals, like a seeing eye dog.  However, AirBnB has chosen to lump these two catagories together and "forces" people to accept all animals.   You can charge a pet fee for an ESA, but not for a true service animal.  True service animals are very highly trained, would not be ever out of the control of the owner (i.e., left in a crate or alone at the property), and good owners would not book a property that does not allow animals.  Their animals are NOT pets.

I would be very up front with your new rental and state that because you have two dogs on the premises, other pets are not accepted.  Perhaps other owners can tell you what kind of language to put in your listing to discourage people bringing their pets.  

[Colleen253]

“Please be aware that under Airbnb’s Nondiscrimination Policy, Hosts can’t charge extra fees to guests with an assistance animal.”

You can’t charge a pet fee for an ESA. ESA’s and service animals are one and the same under Airbnb policy. They are all assistance animals.

Having said that,

Issues with service animals

Assistance animals are generally well trained. However, if necessary, you can request additional compensation if the animal damages a listing beyond normal wear and tear. The Host Guarantee and security deposit are still at the Host’s disposal in the event of an accident.

A Host may ask a guest to remove a service animal if:

1. The animal is out of control and the animal’s handler does not take effective action to control it
2. The animal is not housebroken

In either scenario, the Host must still give the guest the opportunity to stay at their place without the animal. And given their role in providing service or emotional support, assistance animals shouldn’t be left alone at a listing.

@Lorna170 @Catherine-And-Gary1 

[Colleen253]

@Catherine-And-Gary1 

https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/1869/assistance-animals

Airbnb lumps ESA’s in with service animals so the policy is the same for all. Because Airbnb also does not require documentation, the door is open to anyone to bring a pet and simply claim it is an ESA.

Although not technically a shared space, because your new listing is also your residence, and you have dogs of your own, which brings potential for conflict, you should be able to refuse. Make it clear in your listing description and house rules, and contact Airbnb to put a note on your account, to cover further bases.

[Sarah977]

@Catherine-And-Gary1  On shared home listings, hosts do not have to accept ESAs or service animals if it presents a health or safety issue. While yours is technically not a shared home, the apartment is in your home, so I would put wording in that listing to the effect that you have 2 dogs who are extremely territorially when it comes to other animals on the property, therefore you are sorry that you can't accept any animals, including esas and service animals, for safety reasons.