SEE: Advice from AirBnb Expert on Service Animals

[Aaron279]

I was informed yesterday, months after the reservation was made, that a guest will be bringing a service animal. I am aware of AirBnB's policy and unless health and safety is an issue, accepting service animals is the fine print. They (Marco an AirBnB Expert) did tell me, however, that I can edit my listing to note this, and they will support me. I have since changed my listing to include: "About SERVICE ANIMALS: We are aware of the value service animals bring to people, and we are aware of AirBnB's policy of allowing service animals without discrimination unless health and safety becomes an issue. My children suffer from moderate to severe pet allergies and this is our primary living space when not hosting guests. As such we can only welcome non-shedding/no dander companions to our house as we need to guarantee the health of our children."

Hopefully this helps others in similar scenarios.

[Tueykay0]

Thanks for the tip.

Hope that works for you and good luck!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Aaron279yes, that is true, you don't have to accept service or emotional support pets in your home. Hosts who like you, host in their home can also choose to host only the same gender if they like. Things are different for off site hosts.

[City-Limits-Ranch0]

@Aaron279you can ask the guest if they have a disability (but not what it is) and what  task the dog (only species that can be a SERVICE animal other than the rare mini horse) is trained to do.  The task has to directly mitigate or support the disability.  So a blind person's service dog guides them, a deaf person's service dog alerts them to sounds, a wheelchair user's dog picks things up off the floor or opens doors.  If the deaf person's dog is trained to pick things up but doesn't alert to sounds and the person is able bodied, that does not qualify as a service dog.  If the dog is with someone who is not disabled but they claim that it is owned by a disabled person who is not present, that is not a service dog.

If the animal is not task trained or the person does not have an ADA recognized disabiltiy then it might be an ESA (emotional support animal)  but it is not a service dog.  You are 100% justified in 100% excluding it from your premises if you don't want it there.  ADA does not cover ESA.  Airbnb allows ESA but not if it puts your family at risk.

All service dogs and ESa can be required by you to have supervision of the owner or their agent 100% of the time.

[Aaron279]

Thank you! As a side, what is ADA?

[Letti0]

@Aaron279 In the US ADA stand for the Americans with Disabilities Act. I think it started some time in the 1990's and is a civil rights thing to prevent discrimination againt the disabled in the US.  

[Aaron279]

Thanks @Letti0, well that makes sense. I'm not American, so I'll have to see what laws apply here.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

Whenever I see posts about service animals/ESAs/pets......... I am sooooo~ glad I'm not in the U.S.

Korea has laws about service animals and I'm all for no discrimination against the disabled who NEED service animals, but the situation around anyone being able to call their pet an ESA is ridiculous and is a total disservice towards people who legitimately need service animals.

I'd love to see what happens when some tries to insist on bring their "emotional support snake" or "emotional support turkey" into a resturant or cafe in Korea. I'm pretty sure the owner will be the one to call the police and the police will escort the ESA and owner out 🙂

[Letti0]

@Jessica-and-Henry0 My youngest daughter had to live on campus the first two years at her college. She's in a private town house now. One of her friends got a room mate that had an ESA allowed by the school. The poor girl had to beg to get another room for months. It was a rabbit that was caged for the most part and the girl who owned her did not take proper care with clean up or feeding the animal. It was a totally sad case that took the college months to fix. She was sleeping in my daughters dorm on her futon because the smell was to horrible to stay in her own room from all the mess left in the cage forever.

My grandson has a huge, huge lizard. He's currently in Alaska, but his next stationed place he just frew is Hawaii which will not allow into the state. I wonder if he can claim it as an ESA lol. My daughter has agreed to take it for the three years he'll be stationed there, so I guess we'll never know...

[Christine615]

I noted that Airbnb terms of service now says Hosts can turn down pets and smokers.

We've put on our own site that due to allergies we can't accomodate pets or smokers.

So far only one person has violated that (as evidenced by the dust bunny dog hairs we found. She won't be allowed to book us again.

Funny thing, people WITH allergies tell me they appreciate our space and book it because they DO NOT have to guess. Epi Pens are sold in sets of 2 and with a $700+ copay. We keep two on hand at our primary house but we use the apartment constantly and my relatives who use it are also very allergic to animals. We discovered that quick when one had an attack at a friends house.

I have a kid with a disability, as well as friends who do, so I get it. I do. But with allergies, even a service animal is beyond a reasonable accomodation when there are so many other Airbnb spaces in my area that allow them.

Any guest who is so inconsiderate as to think that a temporary stay is worth putting the owner or the family at risk is a bad guest.  And according to the feds, a single apartment or home is not considered a "public accomodation" subject to ADA regulations.

Like the person above, my daughter was in a college apartment that allowed one of the roommates to get an emotional support cat. The agreement was to keep the cat in her suite. She didn't. The cat climbed on the kitchen counters, dove into other resident's food and otherwise tracked dander and litter throughout the rest of the shared space. 

Airbnb is not the same as a hotel or bed and breakfast. I wish I could allow animals, but I just can't and I've been honest about that in my listing.

[Lynette57]

I also do not allow any pets, infants or young children in my home. I have a very steady stream of corporate people who enjoy my adult only home, Once I had a guest bring an infant ( because on the booking page AB&B has a statement, Infants under 2 dont count and it cant be removed.) although there was no cot high chair or any facilities to cater for an infant. I almost vomited when they left , with putrid soiled nappies filling the large bins in my home and dirty hand marks and food all over walls, broken cupboard doors, all items from lower drawers and cupboards either broken or shifted to bench tops. and they then reviewed with a 4, saying not quite clean, when I contacted them to ask what the problem was so that I could make it better for next guest, I got, "there was a smudge on the book case in office"  This confirmed that I had made the right decision on who to cater for. I also greet every guest and request to take a photo of their Licence or ID. I have never had a guest refuse or decline yet, as they understand we have strict security that does not always apply through ABB.

[Victoria567]

Hi@Lynette

As an IB host I thought I could choose whether or not to accept infants into my home 

[Jeff443]

I've recently been reported as being in violation of the discrimination policy for denying someone with a service animal. I rent 2 rooms in my home as a shared space. I have a dog that I rescued, that has been attacked from dogs and just doesn't do well around them. I was told by customer service that I was getting a warning for discriminating a guest, then after explaining told I would be given an exemption for my "hostile" pet . When I told them my pet was not "hostile", I was told that my exemption was removed and the warning was reinstated. My thing is it's a shared space and it's a safety issue because animals are unpredictable and I don't want to risk any undue stress or injury to my or any other animals or people. Not to mention that even if I kept my dog couped up in my room, he would be all out of sorts and howling at the scent of the other dog. That wouldn't be pleasant for anyone!

[Pete28]

Last time I went around this, Airbnb required it to be a shared space to,exclude based on allergies.

i noted that I do,cleaning and have severe allergies to dog hair - Airbnb requested medical proof...

[Joshua259]

If you furnish medical proof that the host has allergies, does Airbnb exempt you from having to accept service/support animals?