Guest caused the death of hosts dog..

[Luke279]

Yesterday was a sad day as our Siberian Husky passed away in his sleep due to organ failure caused by consuming high levels of toxic dark chocolate. 

This was caused by the failure by guests staying with us who ignored our no food policy in rooms or left on the side. This is all sign posted and spoken about on arrival clearly. 

Sadly the vets could not save his life due to him already suffering from pancreatitis, with the added toxicity his liver shut down. 

Airbnb have been utterly useless with the reporting of this incident, no help what so ever. Not a single member of staff has taken the case on and dealt with whats happened, which is incredibly shocking. 

😞

[Anonymous]

@Luke279   I am so sorry to hear about your dog. Huskies are such wonderful creatures, I'm sure this is a devastating loss.

What I can't gather from your post is what outcome you're hoping to get from Airbnb. Are you seeking financial compensation from the guest? Or just to end the booking early?

[Luke279]

Thank you.

Yes reclaiming the vet bill costs which where beyond what we expected at first. Our insurance company wont cover us as it was a third party causing the death.

The guest wouldnt even take responsibility for there actions or apologise for any harm caused.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

@Luke279   I'm afraid I have no encouraging news for you here. Airbnb's liability insurance would only kick in if it were a human member of your family who suffered bodily harm, and the Host Guarantee categorically excludes pets from coverage. So sadly, I don't see any way for you to get compensation through Airbnb on this one.

It's always possible to request that the guest voluntarily pay additional money via the resolutions tool, but when they're denying responsibility for the incident it's hard to imagine that they'll accept a charge for it.   Perhaps another contributor is aware of an option that I'm not, but of the handful of similar incidents I've heard about, the host always came out empty-handed.

[Helen3]

Hello @Luke279 

I am so sorry to hear about your pet. What a heart breaking time. Are you saying that your guests left a piece of chocolate out in the communal area of your home and eating it led to the death of your dog?

It would be worth checking the terms of your pet insurance again. It would seem strange for it not to cover injury or accident caused by a third party @Luke279 . What would happen if your pet, was run over by a car - would it not cover that?

Alternatively there anything in your home insurance for STRs that would cover this.

[Luke279]

Hi Helen,

It was more than a piece, was a large box of dark chocolate and was'nt found for quite some time after it happened leading to the complications. 

I was informed that due to the property/airbnb guests operating under our business operation rather then it being personal that business services are excluded from personal pet insurance. I have gone through the policy which it does state this unfortunately. 

I'll try my luck with airbnb, but seems from reading above this wont go well.

Thanks for your input

[Helen3]

Ah I see, so your pet insurance was invalidated because it you had personal rather than commercial insurance. That would make sense.

As mentioned before Airbnb guarantee  doesn't cover pets.

I am sorry your guest left food out in your communal area particularly when you mentioned how dangerous chocolate was to your dog, and then for your guests to deny having the chocolates there.

Does your property management company not have home insurance for short term lets?

[Luana130]

Hi, 

I know how you are feeling, I really do. I lost one of my dogs last year to poison (done on purpose, not airbnb related). I have been ever so vigilant after that, and I am terrified of anything happening to the others.

I don't let my dogs have contact with my guests, one of the reasons is that I don't want them feeding anything to my dogs. I was able to divide my house in a way that allows for that.

I'll be honest, you won't get anywhere with airbnb, I think your best bet os a civil suit if you have any proof. I hope you already got the guest out of the house.

Where was the chocolate? In the guest bedroom? Did your dog have access to it?

You can file a civil claim for personal injury if someone's negligence causes your pet' injury or death. You can sue for medical expenses, pain and suffering. You can even try small claims. You can also see if it is possible to file criminal charges.

[Luke279]

Hi Luana,

I apologise not replying sooner but I've been dealing with this situation and trying to process it.

In the UK to make a civil claim we need the guests full details to issue judgement which airbnb will never release due to our strict data protection laws. 

Even so Airbnb have still even to me writing this failed to act on the death or respond to any communication. Ive had communication with case managers on other matters not related to this yet this matter is still outstanding. Says it all?!

I even went on to Twitter and escalated this matter and still no response. In return a few news agency's in the UK have gained interest, this really isnt a route i want to go down but it seems airbnb dont give two F**ks about us as hosts. 

I didnt only lose my beloved 5year old boy in his prime; Ive lost my trust and the ‘mojo’ to continue a business i built.

[Mark116]

@Luke279  Take it to the media.  GB loves dogs and everyone hates airbnb at this point.

[Helen427]

Sorry to read of the loss of your beloved pet @Luke279 
Maybe your case could help escalate ABB to include a term in there Terms of Service for those who permit or have Service animals/ Guide Dogs as it could just as easily have happened to a person who has one of them. Perhaps it has happened and I'm unaware of it.

If it goes to the Media, be careful which paper you approach as some of your Newspapers can be brutal.

I'd expect that someone like the BBC would be most interested in hearing if any one who has a service animal has had something similar happen to their animal, as well as your story.

May I suggest you use related keywords here in CC and see what similar stories pop up to add to the mix.

As an aside @Stephanie this is something in your capacity you could raise within your circles so situations like this that do arise, are appropriately addressed across the board.

Remember all the great times @Luke279 they are special memories

Central To All Home & Location,

Remuera, Auckland, New Zealand

[Luke279]

Thank you for everyone that contributed to this post.

Update: Airbnb decided to payout even though they didn't have to as it wasn't under the host guarantee, it was escalated to a senior case manager who made the decision in the end.

All the best 

[Mike-And-Helen0]

@Luke279 so sorry for this senseless loss of your family member.

[Joseph1648]

This happened to me, I am waiting on compensation for vet bills from air bnb.

They have been understanding but ambiguous with the time frames and have assured me the funds have been released to me but the timeframe for payouts per policy are not correlating with what I have been told in writing.

I understand things take time but the policies are based on when they get around to releasing the funds despite me having provided the invoice on request, I've been quoted 2-4 days 5-7 and now 10. I have it in writing however a document with reimbursement figures has no value. It's about getting closure and it's been 4 weeks since my dog died this has allowed time for me to order an autopsy and as uncomfortable with the prospect of my best friend not being put to rest it was recommended by a third party so time will tell

[Joseph1648]

To give context I was a guest and another guest was staying in the same time period the host was not a pet owner