Well actually there absolutely is in the UK @Caitlin_Williams and this is an international forum so probably best for you to specify that your advice relates to the US only.
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In the US, the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) does not require that service animals have certification or documentation. There is increasing abuse of the service animal status. If, for instance, I tell the airline my pet is a service animal, they can ask me what service the animal performs and/or for what disability the animal is required. If I respond with legitimate answers (even if the answers are total lies) and my pet appears to be well behaved (and/or well controlled), my pet is allowed to accompany me on the airplane without further examination. The airline must allow the animal even though it might believe the animal is only a pet. The airline allows the animal because I have self-certified that the animal is a service animal and that is all the ADA requires. The ADA requires providers (such as the airline) to accept the self-certification.
Guests are not required to disclose, in advance, that a service animal will be present. I ask my guests to let me know but, still, they are not required to let me know. If they do let me know, however, I send them a special message advising them that my rental 1) has a doggy door - it has a slide-in barrier that needs to be removed, please put it back at the end of their stay 2) the back yard is believed to be secure but the guests are responsible to inspect it to assure their animals canât escape 3) the guest is required to provide a sleeping/resting bed for the animal - animals are not allowed on the furniture 4) guests are responsible for cleaning up after the animal, whether it is waste in the yard or animal hair on the furniture (for whatever reason). I remind them that some other guests stay at my rental because pets are not allowed, perhaps because of allergies, and to please be considerate.
Even though the abuse of service animal status seems to be on the rise, guests with service animals are rare. I intend to fully comply with the ADA. Those who need service animals must be respected.
Itâs a total shame that more hosts donât try to accommodate disabled travellers. I have a service dog who is trained to help me with my disability and I am turned away from 9 out of every 10 properties on Airbnb.
Legitimate business owners do everything they can to accommodate all people with disabilities. If you canât run a legitimate business that accommodates travellers with a service dog, you should try finding a room mate on sites like Zillow or Craigslist and donât host on Airbnb. Host who discriminate against people with disabilities are not welcome on this platform.
Honestly, I donât believe this unless you have only ever tried to book shared-space listings. A real service animal canât be turned down for whole-place listings.
I donât think it would be a problem if fake ESAs were not so prevalent, and Airbnb has only made it worse for hosts, so shared-space hosts can fight fire with fire by saying they have allergies or that they own an aggressive or otherwise incompatible pet.
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I host people with pets, all kinds of pets. I just spent $800 plus sweat equity taking the carpet out and putting down tile so I can continue to host people and their animals. Please come visit El Paso TX and book my place.
I donât travel with my pets (yet) but look for places that have them/accept them and thereâs a good selection. Like Brian I donât know why youâve had such bad luck. And since you have a service animal you donât even have to disclose in advance that you have it. So maybe you should just starting booking and showing up. Not shared accommodations of course. No one should be forced to house a dog inside their personal home.
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Iâd also like to add this about people in their own homes who refuse to host dogs: many people are afraid of dogs and/or have a psychological aversion to dogs. There are people with basically PTSD from having been bit by a dog. Muslims generally have religious objections to being around dogs.
A personâs need to not be around a dog is every bit as valid as your need to have your dog with you. Legitimate service dog owners should do everything they can to make sure that their dogs donât infringe on the rights of others. Airbnb is not a platform just for people who donât share spaces.
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People who are vesting up their pets are the problem. Service dogs are not pets and people passing off pets as service animals are causing most of this problem.
And I donât care, we are allergic to cats. Many prospective guests are also allergic to cats. I am not going to make my 2nd home a place I and my family cannot enter because someone thinks they need an Emotional Support Calico with them in order to stay there.
And that guy with the Emotional Support Alligator is excluded in explicit terms in my rules. It straight up says No Alligators. No Cats. No exceptions.
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True you need not disclose the service animal. I donât recommend because if the undeclared service animal leaves evidence of its stay, we are going to assume it was an undisclosed pet and request the pet fee afterward as disclosed in our listing terms. i would never charge a pet fee to a service animal. They arenât pets.
My first service animal was paid for as a pet at time of instant booking (obviously not on Air, they canât possibly make pet fees that simple).
The guest disclosed that it was a service animal in the intro booking message. I promptly sent the pet fee back to him.
He actually protested that I should keep the pet fee because it would cause extra cleaning (we donât charge a cleaning fee). I sent it back anyway.
They vacuumed the whole house and left no trace of the service animal. I love service dog owners. Stay at our place any time.
We allow dogs of any size, in any number, of any breed. I recently hosted a party of 7. Three adults, three pet dogs, one service dog.
They left the place spotless.
Generally I donât recommend it either. But if Airbnb hosts are legitimately discriminating against me and Iâm being turned down by 9 of 10 hosts illegitimately thatâs when Iâd take a different action.
I just donât have enough information to know what listings on Airbnb are turning away a legit service dog.
As Iâve said previously Iâve hosted many dogs, some cats and two rabbits, in my airbnb room and only had 2 real problems. About a 2% problem rate. And my listing deters people with severe allergies and people who donât love dogs. Itâs a win for me.
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So are you a guest trying to book? What brings you here, are you looking for advice or just here to tell us the law?
RR
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Thank you @MissSwan. Someone who backs up their statement with the actual url and Airbnb rule is an ABNB Host Forum SuperStar, in my book.
What @Caitlin_Williams doesnât quite realize is that her own post states:
Operative Phrase: Explore mutually agreeable ways. It needs to be satisfactory to both Host and Guest. Should that not occur: âdo not pass go do not collect $200â meaning Guest looks for other accommodations that would be mutually agreeable.
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Your personal experience doesnât make this a fact for everyone. Neither does mine, but before our homeownersâ association banned (yes banned) dogs I hosted many guests with pets. (The ban is dogs, I still host cats, parrots and all manner of other animals).
I also travel with my pet and have never had a problem finding Airbnb accommodation.
So, you have your experiences and I have mine. They differ wildly. However, your opinion does not give you the right to pontificate to hosts about what is and what is not acceptable âon this platformâ.
Yes, they do. Why is that relevant to your post?
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And who is to blame for that? Letâs start with the internet Drâs who will give anyone with a credit card a drs note and service dog vest. Then letâs go to the U.S. government who requires NO proof ever that a service animal is actually a service animal. Then I would go to the people who CHEAT the system and just cannot be without fluffy and LIE about Fluffyâs service dog status. It is an imperfect system that is not fair to hosts and landlords.
RR
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I would add to this - it is also not fair to those with a genuine need and who follow the rules.
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It is very unfair to those with a genuine need.
RR
Really? You are turned away from 9 out of 10 properties? So that must mean you are searching for homes that are not pet friendly to begin with. And the law is not clear in the USA. Itâs not clear at all. Of course people with true service dogs are afforded the right to stay in a public accommodation just like anyone else would. If you think that every homeowner is considered to be a âpublic accommodationâ -⌠then let me ask you if you think every VR property owner should demand early check out one two hours early and charge everyone the same amount as if to have a full home cleaning pet hair removal done? Because thatâs what it would take to get everyone on board. If you want me to make sure that I can allow any amount of animals who show up announced, WITHOUT ANY EXTRA ROOM to house these guests, then I would need to alter my entire business model. Every single guest would be assumed to have pet hair, and I need to hire extra staff.
NowâŚon the other hand, I wonât say that the âreal estate brokerâ part doesnât apply to whole home rentals. My point being is this is a grey area. In NO BUSINESS, does someone allow full roaming of pet hair, etc. over 100% of the accommodation and expected to have it prepared within a few hours. If we all do this, then all of us should have check out by 8 a.m. and check in by 5. p.m⌠Or we just increase our cleaning fees by $100
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Funny how hotels, restaurants, etc. who are considered to be public accommodations donât allow all guests dogs to just roam freely into every single personâs rooms, the restaurant kitchen, the behind the counter area, etc. Yet, people expect that you will need to keep 1 space available and always ready to be pet -free, allergy- free, etc. SoâŚhow many of you would like to pay an extra few hundred dollars for this service? So insaneâŚ
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⌠itâs the crybully way âŚ
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The misrepresentation of Service Animals is being addressed in many states. Here is a recent article (6/5/2018) regarding misrepresentation in the US and the states that have code addressing the issue. Perhaps this will help the communityâŚ
So do you look for places that are pet friendly or just insist you should be able to book a place that says no pets?
RR
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