Limit on the number of support/assistance animals?

[Cord1]

I've just had a reservation for which the guests brought three emotional support dogs. I know Airbnb's policy on ESAs--the animals are not considered pets (i.e. you can't charge extra for them) and the guests don't have to disclose whether or not they are accompanied by ESAs. But is there any kind of limit to the number of service animals that a guest can bring? If they show up with 10 dogs and claim they are all ESAs, am I still required to honor the reservation? Thoughts?

Thanks in advance, 

Cord.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Cord1 

very good question, I will follow 🙂

The best would be to contact Airbnb via Twitter (they seem to be the best) and let us know what they will say)

[Thomas1033]

@Cord1 Read our listing.  Were not allowing them at all no way no how and no excuses.  The host guarantee is a sham so we’re not playing the “esa” game with guests. We are very accommodating hosts who welcome families and our place is clean clean clean!  I don’t want to even think about someone’s dog dragging its butt on my floors and furniture yuck!!!  Yvonna (cohost)

[Lisa723]

@Thomas1033 you're in violation of Airbnb TOS-- since you don't share the space, and especially since you allow service dogs but not ESAs, you can't claim the health or safety shared space exemption. Take care... https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1869/what-is-an-assistance-animal

[Sotia0]

@Thomas1033 @I am sorry but you clearly do not own a dog. Dogs can be conpletely clean clean clean. I have a support animal and have stayed in 5 star hotels, airbnb, you name it! He is brushed dail and showered weekly. I even clean his paws and sensitive parts after every walk. So dogs can be clean, it just depends on the owner

[Sarah977]

@Sotia0  I am a dog owner, have been most of my life. Of course dogs can be kept clean by their owners, I don't think anyone would dispute that. That isn't the issue. First of all, every single pet owner can now claim that their pet is an ESA, after all, they pretty much are- they are often our best friends and we'd be devastated if something happened to them. 

And the other issue is that every dog owner will assure you that their dog is clean, trained, and well-behaved. And we all know from experience that this simply isn't true. Some dog owners consider "house trained" to mean they spread out pee pads all over and the dog relieves itself inside. Fine if you want to live like that in your house, not okay in someone else's.

No dog owner is ever going to tell a host "Oh, he's quite badly behaved, barks a lot and often has accidents inside."

[Sotia0]

@Sarah977All of what you said is true and cannot agree more. But I am just saying that people who travel with their pets usually care about them a lot and train them to behave appropriately. After all, a nasty airbnb guest will leave a bad impression/damage host property with or without an animal! 

That is why every host can request money for damage to property following someone's stay.

[Sarah977]

@Sotia0  The host can request, but in more cases than not, never receive a penny.

And you and the people you know who travel with their dogs may be responsible pet owners, but with all due respect, it's naive to think that is the prevailing case. In fact, those who think their dog should be allowed everywhere often have entitled attitudes and feel their dog can do no wrong. Although I have a lovely dog who is quite well-behaved, I don't assume that she will be welcome everywhere and would never bring her anywhere without checking first that it would be okay. Also, I have never allowed my dogs to get on the furniture. But if a dog owner thinks it perfectly okay for the dog to sleep on the sofa or the bed, the dog will do that elsewhere as well. It's not that the dog is bad, it's that that is what they're used to, and the owner also thinks it's fine.

[Thomas1033]

@Sotia0 I used to own 2 large mixed breed dogs.  One was a sharpei mix with short spikey hair and loose skin.  He stunk.  I washed him and he stunk worse.  I used to wear gloves to pet him.  He was 70 lbs and thought he was a lap dog.  Everything his fur touched ended up stinky.  The other was a 75 lb long hair that resembled a Burmese mtn dog.  Whenever I brushed him I would fill half a 30 gal garbage can with hair.  He loved to roll around in the dirt.  I had them at the same time.  Wrinkles lived to be 11 and Bear lived to 14.  Both were loving and loyal dogs and I loved them very much.  I get people want to take their dogs on vacation.  I have chickens and cats.  Since Airbnb does not limit or define what type of animal can be an esa then there is not a limit to what or even how many someone can show up with.  It has gotten ridiculous.  @Cord1  Just found that out and he’s lucky it wasn’t 3 pigs.  Yvonna (cohost)

[Sarah977]

@Thomas1033  I hear you. My dog is a Korean Jindo, probably a cross, as she's taller than they normally are. She's actually a super clean dog, she grooms herself like a cat and nothing sticks to her fur, it just falls right out. She has virtually no smell most of the time, others have even commented how weird it is that she doesn't smell like dog at all. But in the hot humid rainy season here, which lasts about 4 months, she never really dries out and she reeks like stinky cheese. No amount of bathing helps.

Additionally, she's a constant shedder and when the weather gets hot, it's unreal. I sweep up 2 full dustpans a day of her fur, it's this fluffy undercoat that bounces across the floor like tumbleweeds and lodges itself in every nook and cranny like drywall dust. And she's not even long-haired- her fur is an inch and a half long around her neck and back of her legs, maybe an inch everywhere else. She can't be shaved down in the summer because she's white, her skin is pink, and she'll actually burn.

So I can totally understand if people wouldn't want me to come to their home with her, even though she's well-behaved, doesn't jump up on people or furniture, etc. That just isn't something you impose on others, unless they're unfazed by it.

[Emiel1]

@Cord1 

Bringing in more then 1 dog is IMO rediculous. You are not running a dog kennel as a business. Curious what Airbnb has to say about this.

[Thomas1033]

@Lisa723 I in fact recently messaged cs asking what limit there was to types of esa and their answer was a non answer but they did say we could put limitations on type in our listing but that didn’t seem fair to the esa pigs or esa elephants plus the list would get quite long just naming all the snakes alone so we felt it best to be all inclusive and since our place is in NY were all good there.  Be sure and write a post in the community after you host that esa flock of chickens.  Take care!

[Lisa723]

@Thomas1033 ha, will do. So far, only dogs.

[Emiel1]

@Thomas1033The ESA chickens at least will produce some eggs for breakfast and probably will end up as Mac-nuggets or KFC look-a-likes on the BBQ before the guest checks out.

[Barbara826]

Oh my! I am so happy this has not happened to me yet. Sending my condolences...States need to get a handle on these support animal laws. People with service animals have EVERYTHING in their favor, while the human beings with severe allergies to animals has NOTHING in their favor!