Why I Take Issue With Airbnb's Policies Around 'Emotional Support' Animals...

[Rebecca181]

I have an issue with Airbnb's policy declaring that an emotional support animal is to be treated the same as an ADA-protected animal, because as a licensed psychotherapist, I am aware that many people are able to easily convince a licensed mental health professional that they 'need' their pet to be documented / authorized as an 'emotional support animal' but the true intent is that they wish to travel anywhere with the animal and not be challenged on it. I know this first hand, as I am a licensed therapist. I have refused more than once such requests (even from a few friends and acquaintances who were not clients!) because they were not justified and it would be unethical for me to agree to such a request - but some therapists are not so diligent. Also, it is my understanding that the ADA does not recognize or protect under the law 'emotional support animals' . Here are the two 'policies' (Airbnb policy and ADA federal law):

Airbnb's Policies: "Emotional Support Animal: Airbnb defines assistance animals to include Emotional Support Animals. These are animals that are used as part of medical treatment and/or therapy to assist with an individual’s daily functional tasks, but are not limited to a specific type of animal and are not required to be trained to assist an individual in a particular task. These animals are sometimes referred to as comfort animals or therapy animals."

And this is from the ADA: 

"If you're an individual with an emotional or psychological disability- emotional support animals can be an excellent companion. While emotional support animalsare used as part of some medical treatment plans, they are not considered service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).Nov 11, 2016"

 I therefore am concerned that Airbnb has it's own policy around this and has included emotional support animals in it's anti-discrimatory categories, even though the ADA does not. It would seem to put the host in an unfair position. I have seen some cavalier responses on other forums to hosts asking about this issue, such as, "So if the animal destroys something just take photos and collect money for it from the guest and kick them out", etc. Well, if you are booked pretty much full-time year-round like we are, with same day turnover, finding that a guest's supposed "support" animal has destroyed something in your rental a few hours before the next guest checks in, or having a guest checking in who understood your property to be a pet-free zone and they chose it in part for this reason due to allergies, etc, can put undue hardship on both the host and the guest that follows the support animal's 'visit'. I'd be curious to hear people's thoughts on this. It irks me, frankly, that Airbnb is seemingly not aligning it's policies with ADA definitions and laws. Your thoughts? By the way, please do not assume I do not enjoy animals. I in fact originally had my Cottage listed as pet-friendly, but my two large dogs and the guest dogs engaged in barking and territorial behavior despite a wall separating them and despite all dogs being relatively well behaved. The guest dogs tend to mark their 'new' territory in such cases, so this was an issue as well. As a therapist, I specialize in animal assisted therapy (horses and dogs). So this is not about my not wanting animals on my property. It is about hosts being put in an unfair position unnecessarily, given federal laws do not recognize emotional support animals as a protected animal but Airbnb does, as well as the fact that in some cases the 'emotional support' animal title and privilege is being misused / abused by both clients and licensed mental health professionals at times. Therapists whose incomes depend on accommodating their clients sometimes have trouble saying "No - that would not be ethical", particularly when they are new to the field and trying to build a clientele. There is also the matter of our not being allowed to have guests sign animal addendums or waivers, nor can we collect extra fees. In my dog addendum guests had to agree to de-flea dogs before visiting the Cottage and to pay for de-fleaing if I had to fumigate after their stay - which also would result in possible loss of income for me if guests following could not be accommodated by me.

[Marian65]

 This summer I received my first furry guest, it was a blonde chow chow very cute and well educated, the family brought a piece of wood for him to pee on it on the patio but he was too shy to do so they had to take him out every time. As much as I love my little apartment to be spotless  I love animals and would not like they stay behind whilst their family goes on holidays because of house rules. 

[Rebecca181]

@Bruna-and-Andrew0 Thank you for adding your review here to this thread. At least Airbnb did not penalize you by removing your Super Host status for a year for not accepting a supposed emotional support animal (ESA) that was obviously 'certified' from a scam site (yes, this happened recently to another Super Host). The guest was fully refunded, too.

Some states do have FHA adaptations requiring COMMERCIAL (professional) 'public' hospitality businesses to accept ESAs - but most short term rentals with Airbnb would be exempt from these laws under 'The Mrs. Murphy Exemption'.

I did post on this in 'Host Voice' in January - Please give it a thumbs up to vote on it, I posted the link earlier in this thread. So far only crickets from admin, and I imagine it will be archived (dismissed) soon, like other posts requesting that ESA's not be defined as ADA service animals under the umbrella term 'assistance animals'.

I am glad you wrote a detailed review, myself. We hosts seem to have all kinds of (valid) reasons to write short reviews that do not share the genuine egregiousness of a particular guest's behavior, while guests give full expression in their reviews, sometimes in a most unfair manner, to the detriment of the host. In the end, sometimes an honest (and long) review, while risky, might serve the entire host community better, as we are fully informed as to what the reviewing host actually experienced, versus a 'white-washed' version of events. So I, for one, applaud you, and also thank you, for this review.

[Bruna-and-Andrew0]

Hi @Rebecca181.

I appreciate your support. It is nerve-wrecking to have written and posted this review. Totally risky yet, totally honest. We'll see if she comes with a response and if aribnb takes it down as I am criticizing their policy. I'll keep the thread posted.

I am tired of disrespectul, mindless guests. I do believe it's my duty to honestly rate and review guests as a service for other hosts. I have hosted a guest with a previous bad review, she actually pointed it out to me and we we discussed and I was able to address how I like my home treated and she turned out ok. Most of my guests are great though. 

I'll look for your post in the host voice!

Bruna

[Cynthia157]

I used to accept pets as I have numerous pets of my own. My airbnb is in a separate wing of my house and I don't let my pets into that wing. However, I've had people check in and then check out unexpectedly the next day because of allergies.

I now have two corgis who are very reactive to other dogs, so I've instituted a no pet policy. My dogs bark incessantly when they hear/smell another dog on the other side of the door. If a guest had a seeing eye dog or a epileptic seizure alert dog I would take them. But I draw the line at so called emotional support animals. My daughter has a pet rabbit which she considers her esa, but she doesn't try to take it into restaurants, etc. I've met too many esa who are completely out of control - barking and growling, attacking my two corgis, lifting their legs on people and furniture, trying to eat food off other people's table in a restaurant. 

Airbnb needs to change their policy to accect only true service animals, not somebody's pet with a fake harness on.

[David126]

@Cynthia157

Sounds like you have a shared space so you can use the ABB get out of jail free card.

 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. Please be clear and polite when communicating with guests about this. We also suggest you include information regarding any allergies or any safety concerns regarding your pets in a shared space in your listing description in order to better inform prospective guests.

So I suggests the following wording in your listing:

As my listing includes a shared space and an assistance animal would create a health or safety hazard to me or others (e.g. allergies and pets who are unable to share space with other animals due to a safety concern), AirBnB  do not require me to host guests with assistance animals and I do not.

There is still the potention issue with Government Service Animals but they are few and far between and yest there are fake ones but excluding assistance animals will solve the major issue.

[Rebecca181]

@Cynthia157 I had to look at your profile to make sure that I had not somehow written your comment in my sleep! - Our situations are nearly identical, and our sentiments about the entire thing are identical as well (I also would take a genuine service dog - Not sure the mini-pony could do all the stairs). You said it all. Thanks for taking the time to comment. 

[Liz140]

Air bnb has a policy that states that if there are other animals on the premises that would not get along well with other animals you are not required to have tham. Also I think of you have serious allergic issues you are home free. These two exceptions would cover most hosts, I think.

[Anchors-Away0]

to Air B&B - as a host, I am NOT allowed to ask anything if the guests says it is an emotional support animal - the guest does not have to tell me ahead of time they are bringing, and then I can ask for NO PROOF or ask what service the animal provides. Apparently, this would all be considered discrimination. Who is protecting my rights?????? we have already had one guests bring a 200 lb boxer to one of our beach houses and stayed for a week, there were land minds all over the yeard, which they did not clean up, two duvets were ruined with what I can only guess was dog pee, and the unit had two rugs chewed, because this emotional support animal, that the guest HAD to have with them, was stuck unattended in the house, while they had their wedding on the beach and the bride did not have time to deal with the dog. Filed a claim with Air B&B - but because the guests disputed the claim and never answered the follow up - the claim was cancelled because the guest never responded back. In order for this platfom to work, the platform needs hosts & guests - 

I just feel like Air B&B should do their due diligence and ask for proof to assure the host that the animals being brought in are really service related and not just the family pet.

It seems, they are so worried about discriminating against the guests - they are not worried about what it is doing to the host. 

I think Air B&B should make the guests prove to them, the animal IS A SERVICE animal - if they are not going to allow us to do our own due diligence.  

[Anchors-Away0]

We have had similar issues like this as well as NOW, I have noticed an uptick in guests not telling us they have an animal and then showing up with their pets and claiming emotional support or service animal and telling us according to Air B&B policy, we can’t even ask for proof.