Traveling with Pets

[Shpepper]

What is the deal with people and their pets these days? I have never had more people asking if our hotel accepted pets. It's just crazy how many of them there are. We do not accept due to the antique furnishings and the historical nature of the building in which I work. I can't believe how nasty people can get when they ask about bringing a pet.

I actually had one guest try to leave their dog out in the car all night. They told me on the phone that they were going to do that since Fido couldn't stay inside with them. It was winter and nasty cold outside when they wanted to come. I had to tell them that we do check the parking lot during a shift and that pets in cars would have the owner notified to find a proper place for the pet or animal control or the police would be called.

We can recommend good kennels in the area, we just don't let them in the rooms.

I am waiting for the first service animal we have and someone who wanted to bring a pet try to tell me that they should ahve been allowed to being Fido since that blind person gets to bring their pet dog in. I can't wait to educate them.


Do any of my other hotel Minions out there have issues with people and their pets?
Not just hotels either. Anyplace really.

[Android Kaeli]

I don't work in a hotel nor do I have any real issues with small and service dogs since those are usually the ones I see the most. HOWEVER the only issue I have with people who bring their non-service dogs in to shop with is the fact that Fido will probably bite someone on the hand or arm one day and that won't bode well with management or the higher-ups.

If someone is going to travel with a dog/cat/ferret/other assorted pets, for the all the stuff that's cheesy DON'T! 8 out of 10 times a hotel will not accommodate you or your little cupcake with four legs no matter how much you bitch and moan.

[Arm]

out of curiosity, do hotels generally have a problem with cage pets? We used to travel with pet birds when I was a kid; they were kept in their cages for the duration of the trips until we got to friends/relatives' houses. But we would bring them into the hotels. I'm curious as to whether or not we were breaking the rules.

(nothing SC about it; if the birds kicked anything out of their cage during their stay, we cleaned up after them)

[Lostfiniel]

We get this all the time now too. People don't realize that there are many reasons why hotels may be hesitant to bring in animals. Animals can break funriture, they can soil carpets and linens, they can cause a lot of noise, they can injure other guests, they can make cleaning rooms difficult, people with bad allergies may have to stay in that room afterwards, etc... It wouldn't be so terrible if people asked and were alright with the policies. Often for me, the problem comes in when they yell at me or get upset at me for out hotel's policies.

What a waste of stress.

I do have to warn you though, if someone says they have a service animal, they are off limits. We can't ask for the paperwork to prove it and the condition may be something besides blindness. Some people with emotional trouble are given service animals. Service animals are allowed in anyplace the owner is regardless of normal policies. Asking for papers or denying service can very quickly result in hefty fines for you and your company.

[Lostfiniel]

I work in a hotel, but I've never encountered a situation with caged pets. Our policy doesn't define what qualifies as a pet. However, if you had called me and asked, I would most likely say that caged pets are not allowed. A lot of the reasons for not allowing dogs and cats still apply to caged pets.

[wolfie]

We can't ask for the paperwork to prove it and the condition may be something besides blindness. Some people with emotional trouble are given service animals. Service animals are allowed in anyplace the owner is regardless of normal policies. Asking for papers or denying service can very quickly result in hefty fines for you and your company.

In other words, if an SC tells you "Poochiekins is a service animal, you have to take my word for it - it's the LAW", they're telling the truth? Not being allowed to ask for documentation leaves things open to abuse.

Of course, in such a situation (where from the manner the customer is treating the animal makes it obvious it's a pet and not a service animal), an appropriate answer would be "service animal or not, roughly half our bookings today are people who requested a no-pets hotel because they have severe allergies to dogs, so allowing your dog on the premises would endanger their lives". After all, if you aren't allowed to ask for documentation to show it's a service animal, you can't be required to show documentation for a situation where even service animals would not be welcome.

[Pairou]

I think it's better they ask first though, at least. The hotel my aunt worked at was pet-friendly to an extent, which made people pretty happy, and she didn't mention any issues with that. I've also heard of specialty hotels with separate kennel areas.

[TTAZ]

The next time anybody bitches at you for your hotel not taking pets, direct the jerks to a website called www.petswelcome.com. They have lists of hotels in every state the allow pets, and you can book rooms through the site itself. I drove from Chicago to Tucson with 2 dogs, 1 mature cat, 1 kitten, and 1 rabbit, and we made damn sure to book our rooms through that site. Only once did it backfire at a hotel in Tahlequa, OK. Turns out they recently changed policy and they didn't know they were listed on that site, but because we had our paperwork with us from the site clearly showing them they were listed as a pet-friendly hotel, we were all allowed to stay, which was great.

[DoneWithPeople]

I used to work at a zoo. People arrived ALL OF THE TIME with their small pet dogs in purses and bags like Ms. Hilton. They all gave the same response, "It is a service animal in training. You have to let me bring him in."

I would tell people that, unfortunately, Chihuahuas are not guide dogs. They never had any papers for the dog acknowledging that this animal is a service dog. I would also point out that the service dogs should be walking to train and not be held or placed inside purses.

Every single time, the customer would go to another manager and every single time all other managers would let them in. They would tell me that we had no way to prove that the dog was not a guide dog and that they could sue us for discrimination and violation of ADA if we did not allow the animal to be brought in. HUH? Idiots.

Another person once brought a large dog and told us to put him in our kennel. We did not have a kennel and had never had one. He demanded we take the dog since we should have a kennel and informed us that Disneyland had a kennel so it was reasonable for him to assume that we must have one also. He argued with numerous levels of management for 90 MINUTES. He said that he lived too far away to bring the dog back home (he lived about 10 miles from the park). Ultimately, the idiot managers decided that a security guard would sit with the dog ALL DAY in a shaded area outside the park and make sure that the dog would have water and food and walks.

My head almost exploded that day...

[MoxisPilot]

One of my favorite aspects of living in Europe is animals (of reasonably size) are allowed EVERYWHERE - hotels, trains, buses, in some stores, etc. My cat is now able to travel with me if I need to go somewhere at short notice and can't find a kennel.

I can understand both sides of the argument. A good pet owner will ensure that the animal doesn't cause a disturbance or ruin the furniture, but you don't always get good pet owners in this world...

Back when I was in Florida, the hotels dealt with the animal dilemma by assigning certain rooms as Pet Friendly (in the same way there are smoking and non-smoking).

[Shpepper]

out of curiosity, do hotels generally have a problem with cage pets? We used to travel with pet birds when I was a kid; they were kept in their cages for the duration of the trips until we got to friends/relatives' houses. But we would bring them into the hotels. I'm curious as to whether or not we were breaking the rules.

(nothing SC about it; if the birds kicked anything out of their cage during their stay, we cleaned up after them)

I can't speak for other places but even animals in Kennels are not allowed. Only service animals are allowed. But the authentic ones are so well trained that you don't even know they are there.

[Shpepper]

The next time anybody bitches at you for your hotel not taking pets, direct the jerks to a website called www.petswelcome.com. They have lists of hotels in every state the allow pets.

Thank you so much for that site. I will add it to my list of other places that I know of that do take pets. I know there are a couple of places that they do take them in my town but not many.

I did have one person bring her service animal with her. She was very open about the fact that the dog was an emotional support animal and that she wouldn't be able to leave the house without her (the dog). the dog had her own cards explaining what she did and papers and everything. Her handler offered copies of all of these just so we would have them incase someone asked about her being there. I did not ask at all since I know the law about it. You may inquire "is this a service animal?" once that is answered, that is the end of the story. You do not ever ask any more than that.


I do sometimes wonder how many people calling and asking about dogs are actually asking about a service animal and not a pet. But for sure I am not going to give anyone ideas.

[Andara Bledin]

One thing I would suggest is that any place that's listed on the petswelcome site should be called directly to ensure that they haven't changed policy.

But to save time on having to try to find the places in the first place, it's probably a great time-saver.

^-.-^

[One-Fang]

I wonder how many "service animals" are not. Especially with one like that - an "emotional support animal". It sucks that you're not allowed to ask for papers. It would seem relatively easy to have a national register you can register your genuine service animal on, and to remember to carry the card - build it into Fido's leash/collar/coat, or put it on your keyring.

I wonder how far this is going to be abused before new laws come into effect here? I mean it's not like asking for papers is saying "Are you REALLY disabled? .... REALLY???"

[Seshat]

US law about service animals

Royal Blind Society (Australia) website about service dog law in Aussieland

More Australian law excerpts

To the best of my knowledge, there is currently no central registry in Australia that certifies or registers assistance dogs or other animals. I think there should be.