by Linda Spradlin

Created on: February 07, 2009

Apartment pet fees, and why they charge them

As much as I love dogs, and as many of them as I've been around, I know the destruction they can cause. I became a trainer because of my own dogs, and it grew into a money making venture for me.

My own third dog was a Great Dane. I was only nineteen, living in a rented house, and I came home from work one day to find that in his boredom, he ate the bathroom doorway. All of it. The frame was destroyed, the door was laying across the hallway, resting on the linen closet door. He was well trained, he just got bored.

Several years ago I opened a business called Neat Freaks Cleaning Service. The majority of my work came from apartment complexes. Even after having my own dogs and seeing the destruction that they caused, under decent supervision and with training, I cannot believe how some irresponsible pet owners can allow their dogs to behave. I have seen carpets that had holes dug into them to the point of damage done to underlying floors, doors dogs had scratched all the way through. Kitchen cabinet doors that have been eaten, even walls that had been scratched or eaten through. It costs the complexes thousands upon thousands of dollars to rectify the damage done. Just to replace the carpet and under padding on a two bedroom apartment is $1000.00 in our area.

Seeing things through the complex management's eyes, they have no alternative but to charge for animals. They can't tell if a new resident will be responsible with their animals, they only know the destruction they can cause. They know they have had to replace wood, sheetrock, and entire wall to wall carpeting after one irresponsible pet owner moves out.

one of the rescues that I have now is a story in itself, that reflects the delimna apartment management company's face daily. After entering an apartment to be cleaned, and stopping abruptly to the stench of dog feces, I started looking for the animal. There was no dog food, or even a bowl of water, but I knew in my heart that there was a dog in that apartment. Digging through clothes and trash left all over the floor, I finally found him. He was so weak he couldn't lift his head. Only with the help of a broken piece of mirror held in front of his face could I tell he had any breath left in him. I rolled him over onto a towel and rushed him to the vet.

The vet said he was severely emaciated, dehydrated, the sores on his body were cigarrette burns, and he had five broken ribs. He was a very slight four pounds. He was an eighteen month old Rat Terrier, and should be in the 7 to 10 pound range. Bringing him home after his IV ran, the vet said the pup probably wouldn't make it. that was eight years ago. He is living comfortably with me, healthy in weight and very active for his age. He bites everyone but me, having no trust in humans at all, and rightfully so.

I would change my vote if there was some way to witness a dog's behavior when he's locked in an apartment for up to nine hours, to see if he was destructive, or if he suffered from seperation anxiety before the resident moved in, but that's simply not feasible. There's no way to know if the pet owner will be a responsible one. I agree that it is unfortunate for those of us who are responsible in housebreaking and training our animals to live indoors. the irresponsible pet owners should be jailed, but until then, I have to agree that apartment complexes have no choice but to charge their fees.

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