Opinon Needed

[peppermill]

We need your opinon on a situation that occured at one of our houses we rent out. We have 1 house that we rent out to people who have pets. What I am asking is in an event that a dog ate some mouse poison who is responsible? We keep poision in there all the time. Very few times do people bring their pets so we didn't even think about the poison. However it is not out in the open it is under the beds. A dog got under the bed and ate it. The dog was taken to the vet. So my question is who do you think is the responsible party. The dog owners or us. We just want to do what is right. All opinions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[hothyfax]

Well,if you told me(if I was the one renting the house) there was mouse bait in the house then I as a pet owner would make sure to keep the pet away from it.But if I rented the house unaware of the poison that was under a bed and had to take pet to the vet because of it, I would expect to be compensated by you for any costs to make pet whole again.

 

[sunchyme]

Well,if you told me(if I was the one renting the house) there was mouse bait in the house then I as a pet owner would make sure to keep the pet away from it.But if I rented the house unaware of the poison that was under a bed and had to take pet to the vet because of it, I would expect to be compensated by you for any costs to make pet whole again.

agree with this.

 

[jay]

When I started to take my Pets with me to my cabin I stopped use of poison and went with traps. Mice will take out of the package and move it. We even found it in a dresser under some sheets. You rent this house for people with pets. I would say the you should make it right with pet owner. I would go with traps in all your rental places. What would happen if a child was to find it. Just not worth the risk.

 

[toddp]

Responsible Pet Owner

As a very responsible pet owner and I take full responsibility for my dogs. I have to agree in this case that had the renter been told and the dog got into the poison then that would be their responsibility. In this case the pet owner had no idea and I think should be reimbursed for the vet bill. It could of turned out a whole lot worse if the dog didn't make it.

 

[peppermill]

Thanks guys for your opinons. We have called and left a message for them to call us and have also e-mailed them to get back to us so we can settle. We went out of town on the 23rd and didn't get home until today and when we got home they were already gone as today was their check out day. We didn't have time to talk to them before we left on the 23rd. Spoke to them breifly on the night of the 22nd but couldn't get back to them. Thanks again.

 

[zimmbob]

I agree with the rest here. Had the renter known about the bait, it's their resonsibility. But if you did not tell them of it, and you purposely rent that cabin to people with pets, I'd say you hold some responsibility.

I'd like to suggest though, that perhaps there is a middle ground. Offer up a free repeat stay. Or to assist with the bill or refund the missed days, or something to keep the customer happy, but perhaps not give up 100%. If it were me, a reasonable offer to make things better would make me happy. An apology and some sympathy also goes a long way.

 

[rakins800]

I agree with the rest here. Had the renter known about the bait, it's their resonsibility. But if you did not tell them of it, and you purposely rent that cabin to people with pets, I'd say you hold some responsibility.

I'd like to suggest though, that perhaps there is a middle ground. Offer up a free repeat stay. Or to assist with the bill or refund the missed days, or something to keep the customer happy, but perhaps not give up 100%. If it were me, a reasonable offer to make things better would make me happy. An apology and some sympathy also goes a long way.

agree.......middle ground here for sure,at a minimum.

 

[snobuilder]

what if the renters bring a pet mouse?.....EEEEEEEEK!

 

[snobuilder]

I am glad you will step up and cover there costs, but at the same time I would want a release stating that there will be no further action taken on there part.

 

[mxz500rider]

Just a thought but how about maybe revising your guidelines on people with pets that your are not liable for anything.

 

[Firecatguy]

Just a thought but how about maybe revising your guidelines on people with pets that your are not liable for anything.

I would post it around the house for here on out.....I am a dog owner and I would of freaked if i was not told.....


any idea how the pup came out of this?we do this at our cabin when we shut it down i go up there alot in winter to check on it and feel bad cuz i dont take my pup up in winter.....its his favorite place to be and i just dont bring him.....

 

[mjkaliszak]

I was just in rockland yesterday with my kids, seen your rental signs, if I knew where you were specifically I would have stopped in to say " hi ". I would just take care of the vet bill and consider it a part of " keeping the customers happy ". Middle ground for sure at the least. Go to traps, & signs and another lesson learned in life the hard way. As I get older I'm more concerned about my actions not necessarily about other less important things, money, material goods, ect... However .... money things get stressful. You will be rewarded at some other time for your good integrity & honor ( KARMA ). remember however unfortunate, 1 good word of mouth only goes to 1 person BUT 1 bad word of mouth goes to 9 people. It is someones pet and with most of us pet owners they are a part of our family. JIMO
mjk out....

 

[eao]

IMO you can be held responsible for anything on your property that causes harm to humans or animals. Weather the renters knew of it or not, you take the risk by using something like this because they have reasonable assumption of safety.

 

[Admin]

Geeze, what about a child getting into this?

I realize it was not out in the open, but leaving poison where a child or animal can get it, really?

-John

 

[peppermill]

OK. When we first talked to the renters they said their vet bill was $200.00. We offered to pay $100.00. When I talked to them later that evening they asked if we could do better. I was told when they get home they had to take him back to the vet for check ups and bills would total $500.00. I said we will get back to you. We were not able to do that before we left town so we had decided that when we got back we would give them a full refund of their 9 day stay which was $540.00. We were going to send it back to them. We did tell them that we were sorry and didn't remember that the poison was there or we would have told them. When we got back they had not left any money so we called & e-mailed them to tell them that we are not going to charge them. We have not heard from them. We do not have mice in the other houses. We will be revising our pet policy along with traps, poisons etc. This particular house is the only house that we allow pets in and we do not rent it out to families with small children. We never have and never would put small children in a house where there have been pets that they are not familiar with because of allergies etc. Thanks for all the opinons.

 

[ezra]

well as some one who has pets I will never rent a place that wont allow pets even though I rarely ever bring my pets with me.the no rent is the least I would offer seeing as their trip was runned .I would say no charge and offer up a free 5 day stay another time. they prob wont take you up on it because of bad memories so it wont cost you anything any way and it shows you are sorry and attempting to make it right

 

[Snow Rambler]

Unfortunate situation, I hope the dog is OK. You should cover all cost on this. But why would you want to spread this event on this site??!!

 

[sd16]

Keep some Peroxide on hand. Our pet injested D-con and wife's uncle who's a vet recommended pouring peroxide down until it induces vomitting. The dog was fine afterwards and no vet bill.

 

[peppermill]

Because we are not trying to hide anything. Just thoght that maybe the dog owners might post something and we don't want people to think we are nasty people and that we are trying to something. Yes it was an unfortunate situation and we do feel bad that is why we are not charging them. We will now no longer have poison in the house. We will go with glue traps. We won't even put in the old fashioned traps. As far as how the dog is as far as we now he is ok. After this happend they stayed in with the dogs (3) to make sure and give him his meds. On the third day the vet told them it would be ok for them to go and ride and leave the dog which they did. We left on the 23rd so I am assujming they rode the rest of their stay. They did say that when they got back home they have to take in a few times just to be on the safe side. I hope you understand what I am trying to say. Don't want people to think we are nasty non caring people. It was just an unfortunate accident that happend. We don't have pets and all of our children are all grown and don't live at home. After so many years of not having kids at home anymore and no pets we just didn't think of it. Again we hope everyone understands and realize we are trying to make it right.