Landlords, what's the price to charge for pets?
Go4Rent Magazine: Property owners versus pet-owning tenants

Pets are a superb way to improve mental and physical health. However, they’re also expensive. Pet adoption ranges anywhere from $100 to $700 for dogs and $30 to $300 for cats, according to the Animal Humane Society. The first year of pet ownership can cost anywhere from $1,500 to $2,000.
And pet insurance, according to the North American Pet Health Insurance Association, costs anywhere from $28 to $594 annually. So when landlords attach an additional pet fee onto this already expensive four-legged friendship, some tenants may shy away altogether.
Recommended Read: “Shamontiel's clips from Go4Rent Magazine ~ The magazine geared toward educating and informing Realtors, property managers and tenants”
However, pets are messy. They scratch walls and floors. They urinate and defecate in their preferred spots, leaving the pet owner to clean and spray on a continuous basis. Window screens get scratched. Noise complaints are reported.
ADVERTISEMENT ~ Amazon
As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a percentage from purchases with my referral links. I know some consumers are choosing to boycott Amazon for its DEI removal. However, after thinking about this thoroughly, I want to continue promoting cool products from small businesses, women-owned businesses and (specifically) Black-owned businesses who still feature their items on Amazon. As of the first date of Black History Month 2025, each new post will ALWAYS include a MINIMUM of one product sold by a Black-owned business. (I have visited the seller’s official site to verify that Amazon Black-owned logo.) I am (slowly) doing this with older, popular posts too. If you still choose to boycott, I 100% respect that decision.

And if the pet owner is not responsible, landlords are left footing the bill and juggling neighbors’ complaints for a pet that does not belong to them. So would charging pet fees and screening tenants resolve it all? Yes and no. Here’s why.
Click here to read more on Go4Rent Magazine, Vol. VII.
Shamontiel is a dog lover to her core: 513 completed walks with 90 dogs, eight dog-house sittings and six dog boardings at the time of this publication.
Did you enjoy this post? You’re also welcome to check out my Substack columns “Black Girl In a Doggone World,” “BlackTechLogy,” “Homegrown Tales,” “I Do See Color,” “One Black Woman’s Vote” and “Window Shopping” too. Subscribe to this newsletter for the weekly posts every Wednesday. Thanks for reading!