by Monica L. Garrett

Created on: February 15, 2009

Pet owners should not be charged additional fees if they live in an apartment. Pets can potentially cause damage to an apartment. However, cigarette smoke stains the ceilings and walls and soaks into carpet. Alcoholics who spill alcohol into the carpet and stumble into walls cause damage to apartments. Children who throw temper tantrums and punch walls cause damage to apartments. Abusive people and those with anger issues cause damage to apartments.

Apartments should charge additional fees for damage to the apartment. A goldfish is, under some contracts, considered a pet. However, I've never seen a goldfish cause damage to carpet, walls or ceilings. I've seen humans do this type of damage. I've seen pets who are lazy and wouldn't move unless a raw steak was offered to them. They don't seem to do the damage to an apartment that hyper or angry humans do.

A pet can be a hamster that never leaves its cage or it could be a chimpanzee that swings off of furniture. A pet can be as laid back and lazy as a stuffed animal or can be as hyper and loud as a toddler.

Apartments are as clean as the renter keeps them. They are as dirty as they are allowed to get by the renter and the apartment complex management. Inspections are made to ensure the safety of the tenants and the complex. If there is a problem, whether it be from human neglect or animal damage, the management should address the specific problem as it occurs.

There are pit bulls that are trianed to attack and there are pit bulls that sleep in the bed with their owners and act like a big baby. There are boston terriers who run around hyper all day and there are boston terriers who are relatively calm and lazy. Animals have diffent personalities and temperments. They can not be judged as a whole.

Pets are also the responsibility of their owner. A person shouldn't keep a ferocious attack dog if it isn't willing to accept the liability that goes with owning that type of pet. A person who has a small, calm companion animal because they live alone and have no other companionship shouldn't have to pay for having a pet just because some other pet did something to cost someone money.

Some pets are beneficial to some humans health. This isn't true when the pet is a cat and the human has an allergy to cats. Common sense has to come into play somewhere. A person who is fairly sedentary due to health issues shouldn't have a hyper dog that needs to be exercised several times per day. Again, this is a matter of common sense.

It is very difficult to generalize what "all pets" would do or any harm they would cause. It is impossible. This can not be done because there are vast differences in situations.

Apartment complexes should be concerned with the damage to their property, whether it comes from a human, pet or inanimate object. An exercise machine that is placed too close to a wall can cause damage. There is simply a need for apartment managers to monitor the activity within their complex and address each situation as it occurs.

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