dog ate rodent poison while staying at airbnb

[Kristie75]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advice on how to proceed with AirBnb and hosts in an awful situation. I found my dog with a block of rodent poison in her mouth while staying at a property listed as pet friendly. Here is the actual language from the listing:

"Pets allowed only with prior Prior Host approval & $50 nonrefundable fee.
Please clean up after pets inside & out. We supply potty bags for your convenience as well as carpet spray for any accidents that may happen inside
Please clean up after your pets."

My dog was brought to the emergency vet where she had to stay overnight for two nights for treatment resulting in a vet bill of $886. After searching the house, there were at least 4 other rodent poison blocks in areas where persistent dogs could have found them. I'm having a difficult time understanding if Airbnb has any protections for this type of situation, so any advice or insight is appreciated. Thanks

[Emiel1]

@Kristie75 

Did you inform the host already, and if so, how is the host responding to the situation ?

[Lisa723]

@Kristie75 what a horrible experience and completely irresponsible host! I’m so sorry and I hope your pup makes a full recovery. In your shoes I would:

Cancel the reservation and move out immediately, if you haven’t already.

Call Airbnb to report a safety issue with your stay.

Document the event with photos and receipts.

File a claim for your expenses with Airbnb’s resolution center (“send/request money”) and involve Airbnb if the host doesn’t pay.

Leave a complete review, with just the facts of the events of your stay. Don’t include speculation or facts not directly relevant to your stay so the host can’t get it removed.

Report the listing and the host (see little flag icons where you can do this).

This listing needs to come down before an innocent animal is killed.

[Anonymous]

@Lisa723   I don't think it's necessary for the first impulse to be to go on the attack and try to get the listing shut down. Any pet lover would be devastated to find themselves in this situation, but going into Karen Mode would be the fastest way to make this bad situation a lot worse. I don't know if a host has been suspended or banned because of a rat poison incident, but many have been because a guest encountered a rat. Airbnb does not prohibit any specific types of pest control but it does deem "vermin" to be a Travel Issue, so that aspect of the policy favors the host.

@Kristie75  As @Emiel1  already noted, what I can't glean from your post is how you've communicated with the host since this incident occurred. Unless you suspect that the host was deliberately plotting to harm your dog, it's important to contact the host as soon as there's an emergency. Given the chance, they could have helped you remove the rest of the poison blocks or advance your check-out date to relocate. But also, if you have any chance of recouping your losses from the vet bill, it will not be out of the host's pocket but rather their liability insurance, and they need to be fully informed in order to make a claim from their end. Airbnb does offer host a limited amount of liability coverage ("Host Protection") which is there for occasions when a guest is injured or their possessions are damaged inside the home during the stay. It's unclear to me whether this applies to pets, but they aren't categorically excluded.

Most importantly, I hope your dog recovers well, and that your hosts are helpful in getting through this process. 

[Lisa723]

@Anonymous would you feel differently if the listing were advertised as child-friendly, and the host knew a child was coming, and a child was poisoned?

Not that I equate pets with children but this is not a case of something that may have been accidental or out of the host’s control. It’s completely negligent at best. If it happened to me I would have no interest in working further with the host in any way and would only be concerned about preventing someone else from having the same or a worse experience.

(I think the “Karen” reference was uncalled-for.)

[Anonymous]

@Lisa723  I don't think we have enough information to be judge, jury and executioner on this host. A typical household is bound to contain several ordinary things that could be extremely toxic to a curious pet or child that finds them while you have your eye off of them. A bar of chocolate in the gift basket can be fatal to a dog, those cleaning products we're supposed to have all over the house for Hygiene Theatre can be toxic to children.  If someone ever had an unfortunate accident in your home, does your proposal reflect the way you'd like for it to be handled?

I love dogs as much as you do, but I don't see why anyone should come out with pitchforks because a host made a (perhaps erroneous) attempt at controlling a rat problem. If you're just concerned about a similar experience being prevented, the same objective could be achieved by removing "pet friendly" from the listing (though Airbnb will still require the host to accept service animals and ESAs) or changing the pest control strategy.  

[Lisa723]

@Anonymous to me leaving a substance whose sole purpose is to bait and kill animals hidden in a rental property that allows pets is a whole different category from products with benign intended uses that can be accidentally misused in unforeseen ways. Kind of like leaving a loaded firearm lying around when hosting a toddler. So yes if I allowed such a thing to happen at my place I would expect to be shut down. I would probably lose so much confidence that I would shut myself down actually.

[Anonymous]

@Lisa723   Strictly in terms of negligence, there is no policy standard setting safety requirements specifically protecting unattended pets in an Airbnb. That leaves guests with the entire burden of responsibility for the pet's safety during the stay. So while it's clearly your opinion that the host acted negligently, I don't see this being a winning argument in a money or legal dispute, unless that particular poison was placed in the house unlawfully.

Now if you're already dealing with the devastation and stress of the dog's illness, I truly don't think it makes things better to accuse someone of negligence and getting into a dispute that requires evidence that someone is at fault. Even if that feels morally just from the vantage point of our computers, it's enormously stressful in reality and usually unsuccessful. Liability protection, on the other hand, doesn't require anyone to be deemed negligent, and allows the host and guest to proceed as allies with the mutual understanding that what happened was just a dreadful accident.

The problem that created it can, of course, be corrected without shutting the whole business down.

[Lisa723]

@Anonymous if I were already dealing with the devastation and stress of the dog's illness (or death), the very last thing I would be inclined to do is to "proceed as allies with the mutual understanding that what happened was just a dreadful accident." But I have a poor opinion of the practice of putting down poison bait under any circumstances, to start with-- to me, that's at the very best misguided, whether a pet gets to it or not.

Anyway, our opinions differ, which is fine. I'm interested in reading the opinions of others and how this develops for @Kristie75.

[Michael7047]

It is illegal to put rodenticide out if it is not in a child/dog-resistant bait station. 

"Where a specific product is authorized for use depends upon whether the bait station component of the product has been shown to be resistant to tampering by young children and by dogs as well as whether the unit has been found to be weather-resistant."

https://www.epa.gov/rodenticides/restrictions-rodenticide-products

[Michael7047]

It is illegal to have rodent poison that is not placed in a child- and dog-resistant bait station. Period. 

[Sarah977]

@Lisa723 @Anonymous  I would want to know if this was a hands-on host property or a property-manager listing. If those poison blocks were set out by a manager, without the host's knowledge, it would seem unfair to try to get the listing shut down. The host might be quite horrified to know that had been done, rake their manager over the coals, and be quite apologetic and offer to pay the vet bill. I think it's important to understand the situation before jumping to some absolutes about how to handle it.

[Lisa723]

@Sarah977 everyone who works on my property knows that no poisons are ever allowed, period. The buck stops with me as property owner. In the scenario you describe, whether the host was actively or passively negligent the result was the same.

[Sarah977]

@Lisa723  Yes, but you're a far more involved and responsible host than many with off-site host listings. I agree the responsibility ultimately lies with the host, but I also am aware that property managers can do things that the host would not approve of if they knew.

I could see a bad property manager not even letting the host know that there was a rodent issue, as it might reflect badly on the cleaning the manager is having done.

[Jillian115]

@Lisa723 @Andrew0 @Sarah977 @Kristie75 I agree  with Andrew there is not enough information here we have no idea how the host handled the situation, or if they are even aware of it. It's a very sad for both parties but as you know airbnb gives hosts very little support. I get notifications constantly asking me to add pets to my listing. Heres what they suggest. 

About pet-friendly places

If you choose to allow pets in your space, it’s helpful to provide:

• Bowls for food and water

• Pet-friendly furniture covers

• Plenty of designated towels to wipe off paws at the door

• Extra cleaning supplies

If you have a fenced-in yard or private patio, be sure to highlight that in your listing description. While you’re at it, you may want to specify the maximum number of pets you allow.

Airbnb doesn't say anything about pet safety or even give recommendations other than bowls, furniture protection, cleaning and how to make the listing desirable to people with pets.  Yet I get a notification every time I go to my listing. "Make your listing available to pets".