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A comment on US ends era of emotional support animals on planes. Parent comment

Re:US ends era of emotional support animals on planes by throwaway201103 on Thursday December 03, 2020 @03:52PM (#25294705)
It's not just for existing. Pets can and do cause a lot of damage. They can urinate on the floors or walls, leaving odor that is very difficult to remove. They can chew up or scratch up doors, walls, floors. A pet can easily do thousands of dollars in damage in a one-year lease term. Of course not every pet does this but you don't know in advance.

On the other hand landlords compete for tenants. So they may want to allow pets but impose a surcharge for the potential damage.

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Re:US ends era of emotional support animals on planes by liuhenry on Thursday December 03, 2020 @04:22PM (#25295195)
Logically, the "surcharge for potential damage" should be a security deposit, or fines and penalties against specific behavior.

You'd have the same issues with tenants that were excessively noisy, or held parties and spilled alcohol in the hallways, or scratched doors/walls/floors from moving bikes, furniture, etc. So it seems inconsistent to apply the nonrefundable fee only to the case of pets.

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Re:US ends era of emotional support animals on planes by joegahona on Thursday December 03, 2020 @04:43PM (#25295548)
Yes exactly. Or toddlers, who cause much more damage than pets. Good luck charging people "toddler rent."
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Re:US ends era of emotional support animals on planes by 1123581321 on Thursday December 03, 2020 @07:58PM (#25297679)
Toddlers predominantly damage fragile personal items. Pets damage walls, doors, floors and furniture. Additionally, pets, especially dogs, are capable of many times more destruction in a short amount of time.
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Re:US ends era of emotional support animals on planes by 1123581321 on Thursday December 03, 2020 @10:43PM (#25298631)
Those are obviously unusual stories. Catastrophic fire is covered by insurance. It is not factored into rent and security.

Pets don’t make the news when they ruin dwelling places, as it is relatively common compared to that.

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Re:US ends era of emotional support animals on planes by lotsofpulp on Thursday December 03, 2020 @05:49PM (#25296428)
I have 2 decades of experience in the hotel business, and pets cause much, much more damage than toddlers. The total of pet fees collected never made up for all the damage caused. And tons of people would lie about their animal being a service animal(s). With no shame, they would declare all 3 dogs they have service animals.
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