Why don't landlords accept pets in Ireland?

Mrs OBumble

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117853653#Comment_117853653

I've never taken a cat for a walk either.

Seriously, the purpose of companion animals is to teach children empathy with living things, or to provide lonely people with company. Fish and birds can be used to accomplish both of those goals - an animal doesn't need to be walkable to have needs that humans respond to.

(There's a whole philosophical debate about the issues with anthropomorphising animals, and whether we really should be changing their fundamental nature by having them live inside as quasi-family members. But that's probably for another day.)

ghoulfinger

As I said in a similar thread I •am• a landlord who not only accepts pets but would tend to actually be inclined to favour a potential pet-owning tenant. My reasons?

• Where my heart rules my head, I am an animal lover and pet owner myself. But that’s only the start.
• My own instinct and experience has born out that many pet-owners tend to live more stable lives. To care for a pet you tend to care for yourself and the environment in which you keep your pet. People tend to •choose• to have pets, so have actively decided to provide that caring environment, which is based within the landlord’s property.
• Pets will cause wear and tear. So will chaotic people, children, etc. Pet owners tend to be particularly conscious about the damage their pets might cause, and often tend to take measures to offset this.
• Pet ownership and apartment living go hand in hand in continental European culture. So if your tenants have immigrated from this culture they are familiar with caring for pets in this setting. It is a normal part of living.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117866429#Comment_117866429

So if the pet wrecks the furniture/carpets, you accept that as an inevitable risk/consequence and happily pay to repair/replace the damage?

Damage caused by pets would not be considered “wear and tear” by most landlords, it is considered avoidable damage caused by the actions of the tenant.

It is not always the “culture” in Ireland for tenants to pay for damage caused, particularly when it exceeds the deposit.

ghoulfinger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117866469#Comment_117866469

Often a person owner is there for the longer term, eg I have my continental pet-owning tenants for 16 years. They keep the place immaculate and even repaint themselves. Cleaning is almost an obsession with them, kind of normal culture of house-pride from where they originate. Ok, a cat can cause damage by scratching. 8 years is the allowable wear and tear on eg, furniture, for Revenue purposes, at 12% per year of that duration. At the end of their tenancy, I can assess what furniture is under 8 years old and remains totally unusable, and will withhold any outstanding amount from the deposit. They are consistently timely payers, and I don’t really anticipate any problems in my particular case.

On the other hand I could think of other kinds of tenants I might have encountered, sans pets, who would incur any amount of careless damage without much of a thought for their temporary environment. I have seen how other people live and it isn’t always pretty.

Caranica

Pet ownership and apartment living may go hand in hand in Europe but as I said earlier, the majority of apartment developments here ban pets. That doesn't stop people getting them but action can be taken where management company leases specifically ban them.

ghoulfinger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117866930#Comment_117866930

Our culture needs to change if we are going to truly embrace apartment living as a lifestyle choice. Where I live, a mixed estate of apartments and houses, dogs are provided for and many units have a dog. I bought my place here because it was designed to be a place for this type of living. Every evening you see the dog owners on the estate meeting up in the parkland area between the apartment blocks which is provided with dog litter bins which are regularly emptied by the janitorial team. It encourages quite a lot of cohesion among the residents, many of whom have moved here because pet ownership is part of the norm.

Caranica

Dogs aren't allowed in my mixed development but there are plenty. In the early days the management company enforced the rules but the current agents won't.

One dog in particular is a major scourge, I don't believe dogs belong in high density living (of Irish build quality), especially when they're home alone for long periods of time. This unit is up for sale and I will toast the day they move out.

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117867198#Comment_117867198

You can contact the dog warden if it's a nuisance, it's not right for a dog to be treated that way.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117866640#Comment_117866640

16 yrs is not a typical tenancy, again, would you be happy to absorb the costs of damaged furniture/carpets after a 1 yr tenancy?

ghoulfinger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117867342#Comment_117867342

Nope, would retain whatever of the deposit might cover the damage. I got my great tenants by telling my agency I was willing to accept pets. My tenants had approached the agency looking for a pet friendly landlord and only brought their pet over from kennelling once it had all been agreed. I was pretty happy from the evidence that they were going to be pretty good tenants.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117867422#Comment_117867422

The first word of your post is the important one, and the reason why most LLs do not allow pets. Replacing the damaged furniture may far exceed the deposit, we both know there is little hope of getting any money over/above that.

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117846839#Comment_117846839

I believe the amount of dog crap plastered over streets and pet rescues here can attest to that, esp in light of the impulse buy Covid pet aftermath.

ghoulfinger

The fact that there is such a market for dogs from puppy farms is testament to people’s attitudes here towards pets, which are treated all too often as an accessory.

Beatrix23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117847316#Comment_117847316

It's not about kids not being pets because kids are worse, if you can crate your animal, you can't do that to a kid, that's illegal. Kids yell, write on walls and floors and do other kinds of things that will destroy the property.

To the overall topic, this is bizarre, this country is so doomed because the mindset of a lot of people is "I can just get an animal and they'll grow up well without me doing anything or training that animal" same thing with children. And after that, there are so many animals in shelters because people are idiots. My neighbourhood is filled with kids who yell, crawl on cars, throw stones into the houses and you're talking about not allowing pets? The mindset of people in this country just makes my jaw drop, like really.

Should be illegal to have a kid if you're not raising them (parent should go to jail and not get a social welfare check to spend on drugs like in the neighbourhood I live in) and it should be illegal to own a pet if you can't raise them right. Neglect is a number 1 thing of "What's wrong with Ireland".

AndrewJRenko

Interesting development in the UK

https://twitter.com/newschambers/status/1658752038644113409?s=46&t=3l1OhjvjsuAh4w9RMjlH8g