I'm totally okay with the existing airbnb policy and appreciate how airbnb excedes anti-discrimination laws on many fronts. This article is full of misinformation and scare tactics. It's totally inaccurate that health care professionals certify support animals. That's just bunk. There is no official form or license or certificate that owners of service animals of any kind have, or are required to obtain. That someone in the field of mental health would use their credentials to provide misinformation and stigmatize the real need for service animals is really outrageous. This person's attitude is against the airbnb anti-discrimination policy.
And if allergens are the issue, really, then it should be noted that if one's home is truly allergen free, the issue is moot. If you have carpets and other areas that accumulate dander, they also accumulate mold, dust mites, dust and other allergens. A low allergen environment is easy to clean after an animal has been in the house.
We have a cat, and we currently have a guest that is highly allergic to cats and she's been allergy free her entire stay. It's not that hard. We simply CLEAN our home. We've had several guests with cat allergies and we've been able to keep the cat in (her area) the house and out of guest rooms and common rooms during their stay. (She often is in common rooms when we don't have guests with allergies).
As a person with a DISability (and no, I don't have a support or service animal) I know of the stigma of DISability and the general lack of concern and the high degree of discrimination against DISabled people.
We've had thousands of guests and have been hosts for years, and have a no pet policy, but even prior to the airbnb anti-discrimination policy we stated in our listing that we welcomed guests with service animals. To date we have not had a single service animal stay here. This is such a small issue and one much more rooted in fear and bigotry than in inclusion and empathy.
People advocating discriminatory policies have no place in a "belong anywhere" community.
While the ADA doesn't recognize support animals, I am glad that airbnb does, and just as it is totally legal to discriminate within one's own home on the basis of race, religion, DISability, sexual orientation, etc. Airbnb is under no obligation to provide a platform for such discriminatory people.
We are proud to provide space for people with allergies and people with service animals, to welcome people from all over the world, from all genders, religions, nations and ethnicities.