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Not true. Service animals are not required to be certified at all. And further, per the ADA (US) entities may not require documentation, such as proof that the animal has been certified, trained, or licensed as a service animal, as a condition for entry.
Ummm…hosts are required to accept both service animals (dogs/miniature horses) and ESAs (pretty much anything that breathes).
Lol, no. We can say no, we just run the risk of getting delisted.
RR
Fair enough. To be precise:
“Hosts are expected to reasonably accommodate reservations where an assistance animal may be present, even if their listing/house rules state ‘no pets’.”
According to the ADA, there are major distinctions between service animals and emotional support animals. https://adata.org/publication/service-animals-booklet
But not according to Airbnb. Their rules are more extensive.
I looked up the Airbnb rules, and you’re right. They do group together service animals and emotional support animals. That’s too bad. There is a big problem, in the US anyway, with people who represent untrained animals as emotional support animals. This has already been a significant problem for airlines.
People who have properly trained and necessary service animals are the losers here. Irresponsible claims that an untrained animal is an emotional support animal make life harder for those who rely on properly trained service animals.
Me, too. I want to inspire this, which came from an IG account I follow … but in a yard:
Rocky the Rescue Arrives at his first ever pet friendly hotel
That said, people traveling with animals should love them enough to book places suitable for them, whether said animals are pets or otherwise.
This. Right here. Precisely my lament when I had a guest book our place, which really is not set up for pets. I LOVE pets, and we booked pet-friendly places when our dog was alive. But a responsible pet owner is like a responsible parent, doing what you can so your pet/child is set up for a welcoming situation. Just because you have a pet/support/assistance animal doesn’t mean you should work at pushing them into other people’s home where they have already stated NO PETS.
And perhaps you can see if this from my perspective. I am a host. I am also a guest. I am disabled. I travel with a service animal. So a couple of things. There is no such thing as a certified service animal because there is no entity that can certify them. If somebody hands you papers and offers them as proof that the animal is a service animal, they are in violation of federal law. The only exception to this is North Carolina will license and register a service animal. I am not aware of any other state that does that. Second, we rent an entire unit. The guest is under no obligation to tell me they’re coming with the service animal when they rent an entire unit. Feel free to argue this point, then give Airbnb a call. Been there done that. Number 3. A service animal MUST be under the handlers control. That means a Handler must have that dog on a leash that they are holding onto when they are outside the unit. Thus, if the Handler walks out the door and leaves the dog inside, the animal is not under their control. So driving off with the animal left at your unit is a no no. Call Airbnb. I completely understand why people do not declare their service animals before they arrive at our rental. I no longer do so either. I make sure I’m renting an entire unit. I try my best to rent a unit with hardwood floors as opposed to carpets. I cover chairs, sofas, beds, rugs , with my own sheets. That’s as far as I go. When somebody comes to my rental I politely ask if I can do the same in my unit. I have a dozen or so king size sheets . Most folks are glad to let me do so . Some don’t Thus far I have had two phone calls made to Airbnb with regard to this request. I really don’t know why they did it. All they had to do was say no.
I can go on folks but the bottom line is this. For me, about one-third the people who show up to my place with a “service” animals are full of baloney. I know a service animal when I see one. If a dog is well behaved and obedient I leave it alone. It is too much of a hassle to get into it with Airbnb. When a guest comes with an animal that is obviously a service animal to me I’ll go out of my way to give them whatever they need. I’ll put down a rug tour food and water bowls. I have also been known hang a small bag with Milk Bones and a rawhide on the door handle if they’re out. It is hard to live life with a disability. I don’t need my vacation destination making it hard. From a horse point of view I get it. I do. As a guest I hope you will see it from my point of view. I Tire of the excuses, the workarounds and some of the serious comedic ways many ways hosts try to get out of allowing me to bring my animal. My solution as I stated above is I just don’t mention that he’s coming. I am lucky enough to live in North Carolina. My service animal is licensed and registered. I carry half a million dollars worth of liability insurance. But I am not going to not have a vacation and not have a good time due to what really comes down to someone treating me as a second-class citizen because I need an animal to help me live a healthy happy and productive life
I have no problem with folks bringing a service dog to our rentals.
However, before they show up we find out what kind of coffee appliances they prefer, how many beds they’d like made up, and what name they would like on their sign and a myriad of other things to make their stay comfortable. If they are in our pet friendly rental and bringing a pet we put out the food dishes and tray, and include treats. If they some how managed all that communication without mentioning a dog, even if it were a service dog, it would be the last time they rented that home. If they don’t trust us why would we trust them. We’ve only had to put one couple on our do not rent again for that reason.
People who have been the victim of discrimination, whether they are people of color, disabled or bicycle riders (that might seem odd but it came up in another thread) unfortunately end up feeling that they can’t trust others. I’m an advocate of “hosts should talk to guests” and vice versa but it seems that stereotypes abound in all directions. I also have a pet friendly listing and would be quite dismayed by a guest who didn’t mention they were bringing their pet.
Riders on 2 wheels, whether motorized or not. I am shocked, shocked I tell you, at the feedback I get privately on welcoming bikers. I knew bikers got discriminated against in the past but I had no idea it was still a thing. At our place, Ideal Guest is a biker with a dog or three. Now the copy explicitly reads “bikers welcome” before the fold. I made that change after getting the private feedback from multiple sources who told me they knew people looking for biker-friendly places because I guess some people think biker = “Hells Angels”?? (Some of our guests are members of Christian Motorcyclists Association on prayer mission runs for crying out loud.) I have even had guests book with me tell me when requesting “We’re not members of a club or anything” like I would deny them lodging if they were? Nope. Not going to happen here.
I drove rideshare for a very short while and it’s a pervasive problem you can find many stories all over the forums. You are doing rideshare in a Prius and someone claims their bull mastiff is an ESA and you deny them a ride, they complain, your account is disabled and you’re out of a job. They have the same policy on ESAs as Air does. So passenger insists on bringing muddy bull mastiff fake ESA in the Prius, and it wrecks the entire car taking the car out of service the entire night. You might be able to collect a cleaning fee but you aren’t going to be able to collect all the rides and tips you missed while your car was out of service. But you deny the ride you are out of service permanently possibly. It really sucks for the drivers and what happens is they will “roll” on anyone they see with an animal. So people traveling with legit service animals are getting the shaft.
SHAME on fake service animal pet owners. There are some systems in life that won’t work unless people agree to mutually do the right thing and this is one of them. I don’t see any amount of policy or regulation that will fix it. Just do the right thing.
Hmm. I hadn’t thought about this. My husband is a motorcyclist and his hobby (which is a paying hobby, btw) is working on and restoring vintage European motorcycles. He recently restored a 1929 Triumph. It wasn’t running at all—the owner had it hanging over the bar for a decoration—but now it starts and runs in the first kick.
Perhaps we ought to make a few small changes to the AirBnB house that’s next to his shop and explicitly welcome motorcyclists. We are, after all, located very close to the famous Triple Nickel in Ohio and lots of fun twisty roads in West Virginia.
We don’t allow pets because a supposedly ‘trained’ dog at the next door rental ran away from its owner, killed one of our chickens and half killed 2 more which I then had to kill as they were so badly bitten. It was traumatic. However, I do allow registered service dogs as in the UK they are registered and properly trained. We have guide dogs for the blind various disability dogs and dogs trained to spot if someone is about to become ill. A host friend refuses pets because she takes the view that she would then be discriminating against someone who wanted to book but is allergic to animals. Maybe that is an angle hosts could take if they don’t want pets. I feel we should allow for pet friendly and pet free homes for guests to choose from.
I actually think the new laws some stated are enacting (and considering) will help deter it. They are accompanied by fines and charges (felony) that will at a minimum make some people think twice and punish offenders so they will certainly think twice the next time…
I very much agree with having laws to regulate this. The argument (on any topic) that “people are going to disregard the law so why have it” never sits well with me. There are no systems where everyone mutually agrees to do the right thing therefore governments and laws came into being. Laws are a reflection of what a society values. We see people all the time who equate law with ethics or morality. That’s also a false equivalence (“It’s illegal so it’s wrong, it’s not illegal so it’s not wrong” are both bunk) but that doesn’t mean we toss the idea of law out the window.
Thank you for answering my question before I posted it.
Best quote I have seen in a long time.
It is unfortunate that agencies / ABB make it the host’s problem if they don’t accept an animal when in reality, it is the guest’s irresponsible behavior that should be disallowed.
I love animals and have dogs myself, so I could hardly be called discriminatory in this subject, but if a guest forces me to allow their animal, what happens when said animal is killed by a bear or hunter? And … hum … How long before that owner sues me? In the USA, a lawsuit is a given. 
I have told two friends that they cannot have their dogs at my house, and I don’t even take my own. I have talked a few guests out of renting with us (even after my listing states why they shouldn’t attempt to stay with us). I would feel horrible if anyone got hurt, lost, or worse. It angers me that it is assumed that hosts are viewed as discriminating, when most are probably being more responsible than the owners that should just book a pet-friendly listing.
Your quote @LoneStar sums this problem up perfectly.
Agreed that guests should be able to have a guaranteed pet free place to choose. This host will not stay in a place that has or allows pets. Or smokers. My health is my absolute right.
Nobody is suggesting that you do anything like this…what IS being asked is that those with service animals or pets rent places that are set up for them, not surprise a host. There are always choices these days for places that accept pets.