1. SCREEN YOUR TENANTS. Where have they rented in the past? Ask their former landlords if they did a good job at taking care of both pet and property.
2. ASK THAT PETS BE NEUTERED. Neutered and spayed pets are less territorial. Tat means they don’t mark their territory with pee, and on the rare occasion that they do pee outside of the litter box, it wouldn’t smell as bad.
3. LAY DOWN SOME PET- AND HUMAN-FRIENDLY GROUND RULES. Stipulate in the contract of lease that pet owners should keep the property clean, have their pets vaccinated regularly, and clean up after their pets when using common areas.
This story appeared in Animal Scene’s July 2017 issue.
