Your professional apartment management team has certain responsibilities when we have residents and/or applicants with service animals. The need for some service animals is obvious and we do not need any medical verification. For others, however, we seek limited information to confirm a disability and a nexus between the animal and the disability. Service animals, of course, are not charged additional fees or pet rent. We welcome service animals and have no issue with permitting service animals to accompany our residents at all times while on the property. That being said, owners of service animals have responsibilities as well. Included in those is that the animal owner is responsible for the conduct and behavior of the animal.
I am working with a situation now where a number of residents have reached out to the management office concerning a service animal that is regularly urinating and defecating inside the property, including on carpeting throughout a community. While your leasing office will absolutely understand that an occasional accident can (and likely will) happen, management cannot allow a situation like this to continue. While we have an obligation to the owner of the service animal, we have a similar responsibility to all our residents and urine and feces throughout a community is unacceptable. In a nutshell, no animal (including a service animal) can be a threat to the health or safety of others or the property.
In short, if you have a service animal (or a pet), please clean up after the dog. Sounds simple enough. If for some reason you cannot, then please contact your leasing office so we can discuss options with you. Perhaps we can find a unit on a lower floor? Perhaps we can find a unit with quicker access to the outside? Nobody wants to remove an animal (whether a pet or a service animal) from a property. But management will be forced to act if Rover becomes a threat to the health or safety of our other residents or the property.
Just A Thought.
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