Why a pet charge ??

[Harveyj]

We have been traveling all over the west coast and have been charged from $5.00 to $10.00 per night "pet charge".
For the life of me I cannot figure our what the charge is for other than filling the owners pockets.
My lazy old black Lab doesn't use the pool or the rec room (if they have them) and carries his poop bag container on his leash. Other than matting the grass when he sleeps, he doesn't harm or utilize any of the offered "amenities".
My neighbor at one park was charged for his Parrot ??
Can anyone give me a reasonable explanation for the charge?
I'm glad I don't have an aquarium with 30 fish.....

[Acampingwewillg]

Guess you don't RV much in Hot weather? Most people I know, with dogs or without, leave their air on or thermostat set to a point where you come home to a cool RV. Try Rv'ing in 100+ degree weather and see if you don't leave it on too!

[JohnG3]

Had one park owner tell me that it had to do with the cite bed tax and sisnce motels/hotels have guests/beds per room and RV parks just rent the space, this park charged $1/dog/night as the bed tax.

If nothing else it's a funny take.

[Lantley]

TOMMY47 wrote:
Question for pet owners--What do you do with your pets if you are visiting attractions?
I was just on a 15 week trip around the country. Most, if not all, NPs don't allow pets on any trail or in any building. Unless you just stop at sights that you can drive up to and drive on, the pet has to be somewhere safe. Leaving it in a car is not safe. Leaving it in your RV all day with the AC running costs someone money. Why should the park owner subsidize this? AC is not cheap. I would not have minded having a small pet with me but I realized that there was no proper way to care for it while I was out doing things.

I just leave dog in camper with A/C on. My A/C is on if it's hot out with or without the dog.
Do you really think people turn off A/C when they leave? I set the thermostat and leave just like at home.
In really hot conditions it can take hours to cool a hot closed up RV.
RV. Just leave A/C on. Do you really turn yours off when you leave?

[TOMMY47]

Question for pet owners--What do you do with your pets if you are visiting attractions?
I was just on a 15 week trip around the country. Most, if not all, NPs don't allow pets on any trail or in any building. Unless you just stop at sights that you can drive up to and drive on, the pet has to be somewhere safe. Leaving it in a car is not safe. Leaving it in your RV all day with the AC running costs someone money. Why should the park owner subsidize this? AC is not cheap. I would not have minded having a small pet with me but I realized that there was no proper way to care for it while I was out doing things.

[D___M]

Just another dog rant post...:r

And me with no popcorn...:(

[Jagtech]

Its really about discouraging pets. They can't refuse to take them, so they put a cost attached to it instead.

[Acampingwewillg]

Just to be sure.....and as I said earlier, I have no problem with a "reasonable" fee for my 4 dogs, I just don't believe that the fee, especially when over the top, has anything to do with overhead. Its more preventive in nature so rather than saying No Pets, they charge outrageous per pet/per night fee's that effectively have the same result as No Pets....just a more PC way of saying it. Oh....don't worry, I do drive right on past these CG's.

[FunnyCamper]

burlmart wrote:
I gained real insights when this thread was in the C Forum

What is C forum?

and if you got your insights there, why did you start this thread?
just wondering in general.

[burlmart]

I gained real insights when this thread was in the C Forum

[wintersun]

Someone has to pay for the tax cuts for the billionaires and US corporations that pay little or often no income taxes and guess who that is? Charging fees is considered not a tax by the politicians and if you look at cuts to the national park service, US forest service, BLM, and state parks, look at who is saying we cannot pay to maintain our natural resources or our schools but can afford to spend more than $3 trillion dollars on wars for the owners of the big oil companies.

What goes around comes around - i.e. blowback takes many forms. Be happy you can afford an RV, afford to travel, afford to have pets. Many Americans are out of work, homeless, don't have enough food to eat, have to decide whether to buy food or electricity to run their AC. Get a little perspective and stop your whining.

[Lantley]

Acampingwewillgo wrote:
Once again....I have yet to see a campground employee do any picking up of even the most obvious "gifts" left behind. The comment about "sanitizing" the Pet area.....are you kidding, I think most feel, from my experience and the number of "land mines" left in the pet walk area, that there's no need to pick up in this exclusive area. Honestly, I think Ive picked up the "gifts" left by another much more than any, "I see nothing" campground employee/owner. I believe the line about using the Pet fee to offset costs involved with clean up about as much as I believe the Ad's for sparkling clean restrooms only to arrive and see a Pigsty!

And I have yet to be at a park where there is 100% compliance to the pet rules. I do believe most people clean up however there are some that simply don't.
Be it barking,poop,leash rules or digging up the grass. Dogs create issues. Of course it's no one posting in this thread do any of this stuff. Some would deny you even witnessed a pet causing an issue.

In the end the campground charges a fee, to cover the cost of the pet headache,to discourage pet owners and to simply make additional revenue from those bringing pets.
Luckily we all have options and a gas pedal.
I have no problem paying the fee because I enjoy bringing my dog. What the owner does with the fee is his business.Hopefully he flies to Hawaii and stays at the Four Seasons where no pets are allowed.

The pet fee is minimal and simply does not influence my camping decision.
95% of the CG's I visit allow dogs. For those that do not allow dogs , or have breed restrictions I keep pressing the pedal until a find a CG that allows pets. As long as pets are allowed, any fees are just part of the equation.
Beer,ice,pet fee,firewood,kid fees or whatever are not significant enough to impact my camping experience. Added together they probably equal .0001% of the money you have invested in your rig.

Don't sweat the small stuff. Life's too short to drive 5 additional miles or stay at the other park just to save/avoid the pet fee.

[Reader1]

2oldman wrote:
All this whining makes me darn glad I'm not in the RV park business..or any business dealing with the public. Like Western says.. it's a no win game. No matter what you do, they complain.

In the end it makes absoultely no difference what a CG owner charges for. It's his business.

I find your comment about "all this whining" bordering on insulting, but I agree that a CG owner can charge for what he wants because it is his business.
Consumers have the right to question and make decisions based on those answers. Trying to understand what I am paying for is not whining, I think it is being an informed consumer.

[Acampingwewillg]

Once again....I have yet to see a campground employee do any picking up of even the most obvious "gifts" left behind. The comment about "sanitizing" the Pet area.....are you kidding, I think most feel, from my experience and the number of "land mines" left in the pet walk area, that there's no need to pick up in this exclusive area. Honestly, I think Ive picked up the "gifts" left by another much more than any, "I see nothing" campground employee/owner. I believe the line about using the Pet fee to offset costs involved with clean up about as much as I believe the Ad's for sparkling clean restrooms only to arrive and see a Pigsty!

[Big_Katuna]

I would like to read some of these posts after the posters had actually ever ran a CG or motel.

[2oldman]

burlmart wrote:
Do you charge pet fees?

westernrvparkowner wrote:
We don't have pet fees, so people complain about our limits on the number of pets,.