"No pets" housing

I am a fence-sitter on the "no pets" housing issue. There are animal groups who take landlords to task for not allowing pets.

When I was a landlord, we permitted pets. We even permitted one big dog-aggressive pit bull. The owner took her bully-owning responsibilities quite seriously, thank goodness.

At any rate, this past weekend I was at the solid waste transfer station and a pickup truck pulled in behind me with a couch and rolls and rolls of carpeting. A weary looking woman and a male friend unloaded the carnage, which I assumed was flood damage.

The couch and carpet looked like heck. It looked like it had been through a flood, indeed.

She saw the signs on my truck and engaged me in conversation. She needed cat help. I said I'd help her out "because it's clear you lost everything."

"Oh this," she said, "isn't from the flood. This is from an apartment I rent. I let the tenant have a dog. One little dog. And the apartment is entirely destroyed. All the furniture. All the carpet."

What do you say to a person who has been set back perhaps an entire year's net rental income when the tenant's dog destroys EVERYTHING (because the dog owner did not care enough to walk or train the poor dog?) Will a $500 deposit pay for new furniture, new carpet, or a new gymsealed hardwood floor to prevent future problems? Not to mention that the place will still possibly smell?

So I can understand why a landlord--especially a small business landlord--after getting burned once, says "No more."

When I was an apartment dweller, Bramble used to launch herself up the fake woodwork...and slide down. When I moved out, I purchased new trim molding and replaced everything she had damaged. At another apartment, I moved out a week early so I could flea bomb the place well before anyone else would move in. I needed my deposit. That $250 was gold to me. That was a whole paycheck to me. Not every renter would take such steps, especially if the damage their pet caused exceeds what the deposit is.

Oh, but at the last place we rented, Bramble pissed at one spot by the door, staining the beige carpet a vague pink. She started having health issues and we stopped letting her outdoors. Peeing by the door was her method of protest. I'm afraid in that case we just cleaned it as best we could. We were bad pet-owner-renters, there. Mark did build two nice small decks on the place, so I hope they felt it was a fair trade!