“Service Dog” has been left, unattended in a no pets home

[Austin150]

Hi Everyone,

My guest is staying in our private room that we rent out in our home. Because we already have two territorial dogs on our property, we have a no pets policy, but we obviously make exceptions for service animals.

My guest arrived, and it was immediately clear that she only is calling it a service animal to use the loophole that hosts must abide by. This dog is clearly not a service not and does not behave like one.

In the agreement, that we discussed ahead of time, we let her know as long as the dog is with her at all times and not left unattended she would be permitted to have this "service dog" stay with her.

Today, we discover that she has left the dog unattended, not crated, alone in the room for hours and hours on end while she attends a wedding somewhere. I have attempted to contact her numerous times explaining that she is in breach of our contract and house rules. I have reached out to AirBnB and there is an open case, but no resource assigned at this moment.

My question here is what do I do now??

There has been no response from the guest and the poor puppy (the dog is an untrained puppy) is crying at the door. Do we have the right to terminate this guests contract and go in and let this dog out to at least relieve itself and to ensure it isn't doing damage?

Can we kick these guests out for lying and violating the house rules and AirBnB rules regarding always keeping your service animals with you?

What are our next possible steps.

Thank you in advanced.

[Kath9]

@Austin150 my first thought is for the dog. It absolutely needs to be let out! It's probably peed everywhere! Second, yes, clear violation of house rules by a guest who has deliberately misled you. Not ok. 

[Sarah977]

@Austin150  Keep at Airbnb. Make sure they know this is urgent. I'd ask them to do a penalty free cancellation on the basis that the guest lied and misrepresented a service animal, when it is obviously no such thing. Tell Airbnb that you always accept service dogs and that guests like this cause people who do actually have and need service dogs to be discriminated against. 

[Alexandra316]

@Austin150If you haven't reviewed Airbnb's service animal policy, I would take a look at it. 

https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/1869/what-is-an-assistance-animal

It makes no differentiation between an actual service animal as defined by the ADA, like a seeing eye dog, and emotional support animals: you are required to accept either. It does not specify that animals must not be left alone, or impose any other rules on assistance animals. The only time you can cancel a reservation due to a service animal is 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

Anything else is in breach of their anti-discrimination policy, and from experience here on the board, that's not really something you generally want to mess with. It can get your listing removed pretty much instantly. You could say that the animal sounded like it was in distress and go in and see if there is a problem, but if you do that, I would very carefully document with videos and photos. I probably wouldn't do it myself, unless I was very sure that there was a serious issue. 

People with fake service animals are a huge problem for Airbnb hosts, and I really wish that they would tighten up the rules so hosts were no longer subjected to this kind of scenario. 

How much longer is this guest staying with you for?

[Sarah977]

@Alexandra316  What you say is true, but the guest seemingly specifically told the host that it was a service animal. So the guest purposely misrepresented the designation. And a puppy left alone for hours in a strange place while the guest attends a wedding is neither a service dog or an emotional support animal.

[Alexandra316]

@Sarah977Do you think that Airbnb support is going to split that hair when it comes to the anti discrimination policy? Again, it does not state anywhere in the Airbnb policy that animals can't be left alone. It says you can't ask for any documentation either (not that there is any legitimate documentation for any service or support animal), so calling misrepresentation will likely be difficult.

Again, not siding with the guest in any way: I'm just saying what could potentially happen if you try and kick a guest out with a so-called service animal. 

[Lisa723]

@Austin150 @Alexandra316 FWIW: "However, if your listing includes a shared space and an assistance animal would create a health or safety hazard to you or others (e.g. allergies and pets who are unable to share space with other animals due to a safety concern), we will not require you to host the guests with the assistance animal."

[Alexandra316]

@Lisa723Absolutely, but that probably should have been established before the reservation started. If you have a territorial dog or dogs, why not just call before the beginning of the reservation and say that? 

[Helen350]

@Alexandra316 Surely the host has the right a) to care for the dog, & b) to care for her PRIVATE ROOM in her own house?! I'd have been straight in! In the UK, landlords have right of access into lodger rooms at all times, no permission required. Only if someone rents a whole house, does the landlord need to ask permission to go in. I don't know if it's different in the US..... But I think the animals rights, & MY rights not to have my carpet weed & pooed on trumps the guest's rights!

I DO allow dogs but my house rules say the dogs must go out with the owners when the owners go out, & the dog must be house trained, not cause damage & not be a nuisanse to other guests. Any of those breaches, & I could claim breach of house rules... Easier said than done, of course, no one likes chucking guests out, nor the retalitory review!

[Austin150]

@Sarah977  and @Alexandra316 you both have great points. However, we gladly welcome anyone with a service animal as long as it is being brought, at the very least, to pretend it is acting as a service animal. When it is left alone for going on 6 hours while it's owners attend a wedding, it's certainly not acting as a service animal in any capactiy and is in distress locked in a room, without being able to relieve itself.

[Alexandra316]

@Austin150Sounds like you've already made up your mind. As I said, if you go in, document, document, document, and be prepared for the potential consequences. 

[Helen350]

@Alexandra316 Wouldn't the owner be GRATEFUL if the host went in to let the dog out, i.e. caring for it's welfare???? The host would be doing a good thing, not a bad.?

[Alexandra316]

@Helen350Only the guest would know that, surely? I wouldn't want someone letting my dogs out, but then I would never leave them in that situation. 

Many people leave their dogs alone all day when they go to work. 6 hours is not a long time. 

[Helen350]

@Alexandra316 True, people leave dogs for 6 hours at home...... I guess I was reasoning on the basis that the dog was showing signs of distress... in an unfamiliar place.........

[Sarah977]

@Alexandra316  6 hours is not a reasonable amount of time to leave a puppy alone in a house, especially an unfamiliar one. As evidenced by the hosts' discovery that the carpet had been urinated on, the dog is quite obviously not housebroken or needs to go out more often than every 6 hours.

An adult dog that is housebroken, and whose owner takes it out before leaving and again when they get home can certainly be left alone inside for 6 hours. But that isn't the case here.