Recently we looked at paid accommodation in ballpark vicinity of Copenhagen, Denmark - between housesit and onward travel. On airbnb, we stumbled on two listings that required paying guests to care for one or two cats of homeowner. Huh?
So guests are paying to housesit pets? Not sure who the heck would agree to this arrangement - not us for sure. Surprised that mandatory pet care is permitted under airbnb policies. Curious on whether others have encountered this expectation in paid accommodation.
In Australia (WA coast) in an Airbnb near Albany we were required to feed the local pretty exotic birds from the balconyâŚ..100s of pink birds turned up every morning awaiting feeding time. We also had Kookaburras turning up tooâŚ.
Hubby is allergic to birds!
We tried to book an Airbnb for two months in San Miguel de Allende (Mexico) where the owner left her cat if the renters were willing to take care of it which we would have gladly done as it would have provided us with a cat while we were away from our two cats. The owner didnât rent for prolonged periods as it meant she needed to be away for that long since it was her house. We did take care of a tray cat last year for two months in an Airbnb in Merida (Mexico), a young female who wound up giving birth to two kittens halfway through our stay. We liked her so much that we managed to get her adopted (along with the kittens) by a friend of the owner. We were willing to pay to have the mom and kittens vaccinated and neutered but the friend of the owner took care of it. We love cats so much that caring for them is never a job for us. Once on a trip to a resort in Jamaica we almost adopted a young female cat that had adopted my wife. The resort was full of them as it fed them and had a vet come and look after them. It so happened that said cat had already got the heart of another guest who had already arranged an adoption.
Next youâll have airbnb hosts advertise a lower rate if you watch their kids -10% off base rate for each kid, max 4.
Ooh! Maybe the next pursuit of THS to make money - including âchildrenâ under âpetsâ in the search preferences. The kids would have to be at least 3 yrs old and under 13.
Iâve heard of this as an airbnb condition. As a pet owner it seems horribly risky and foolish. I suppose if you charged less in an expense market you could find someone willing to take care of your cat or dog but why on earth would you trust them to do a decent job? Does the host interview the prospects and look at their pet sitting reviews?
Now, being in NY I have heard of paid sublets with pets â usually cats. For long term where you maybe can interview the person and check references, I can see how and why this might work for both parties. I know a lot of sitters here might object, but not everyone can afford to pay full rent for their cat to stay home if they need to be far away for work or a project for several months.
@Twitcher Who would pay that cleaning fee? Owners maybe, but according to the current THS logic, I guess pet sitters would pay a cleaning fee too, even if they have cleaned the house to perfection.
@gchampagne, bless - hat off to you. For every rule then thereâs an exception.
We are currently full time housesitters so do not seek pet care when not housesitting. But we completely understand and applaud your perspective - some housesits that weâve confirmed have been motivated by destination, duration or otherwise and involved a quirk of some kind. Such is the reality of a trade.
Sounds like you secured a mutually agreeable trade in Mexico for a relatively long duration housesit. Sweet that you adopted a pet.
If you ever visit Greece then youâll never leave. Stray cats are everywhere. Weâve met of people that moved there; swore never to have pets again; and adopted, formally or not, a whole lot of cats! Same in Portugal for stray dogs.
I fully get your approach and mostly agree. When I look for Airbnb accommodation itâs a bonus to see that they have pets. I prioritize those but thatâs when I am looking for an en suite room in the hostâs house. When hiring the whole apartment, I have never seen that and I would be hesitant, not because I donât want to look after a cat, even a dog, but because I donât want to encourage owners adopting pets irresponsibly.
Something different would be the situation @Marion refers to, where the owner temporarily is looking for help with rent and pet care while the person âhiringâ that accommodation benefits from a lower rent and is somehow vetted.
Of course I wouldnât understand someone having a house on Airbnb that is not their live-in house and renting it year round with a pet. That would be irresponsible. The house we were looking at renting was the ownerâs own home that she rented only when she was taking trips which is the reason she left her cat. She also had a dog bug she brought it with her.
My former housemate does this with her house/cat - Once I moved out and was no longer around as live in care when she went away. As a full time sitter on here now I couldnât believe people were willing to do so and that she would be happy to trust strangers to fulfill obligations when they really have no incentive to. The arrangement seems so loose and they are only expected to feed the cat, so much so that they reported âthey hadnât seen the catâ and that was that - turns out the cat had been locked in a garage round the back of the house for a few nights!
@oxalis, you rightly note two related key challenges ⌠pet care competences, and pet accountability.
We suspect that most people paying to rent an airbnb are doing so for some reason other than wanting to care for someone elseâs pet.
Speaks volumes about the mindset of pet parent towards their pet. Faced with any bad pet care, what recourse does the Airbnb have? Canât imagine them writing bad review of a paying guest on basis that pet received inattentive care.
While perhaps sometimes works, maybe through good luck, then we this as a bad-bad-bad outcome for hosts; guests; and pets. Probably noone is happy. Except for the bank balance of the host
