People may be more resentful of their landlords than ever before these days, but there’s one subject that tenants and owners alike can agree on: Nobody likes poop.
Specifically, the pet poop that accumulates when renters don’t properly pick up after their pets.
Accidentally stepping in a pile of whatever a pet owner neglects to pick up is an unpleasant reality for folks who rent to live, which has caused many apartment complexes to police the situation with fines for neglectful tenants. But one couple is incensed by the fact that they are having to pay the price for their dog’s “gifts” to the property.
“Sav,” one-half of newlyweds Sav and Zion (@sav_zionwalker), took to the couple’s joint TikTok account on Saturday to voice her outrage at being charged ” $1,050 for dog poop” by their complex. The video currently has 1.5 million views and counting.
“Our apartment is charging us $1,050 for finding droppings [sic] of dog poop outside in the grass,” she tells viewers.
Sav states that she signed the complex’s pet agreement which required her dogs to be cheek-swabbed for DNA. This would allow the property to identify the source of any pet waste found in the apartment’s outside communal areas.
Violations are fined by occurrence. The first violation is $250; the second violation is $350; the third violation is $450. After the third violation, the pet must be removed from the premises.
“That is just wild to me! I have never heard of any place literally picking up poop and testing it,” she tells viewers.
Despite Sav’s disbelief, Pet DNA testing is a common industry practice. J Retinger, CEO of BioPet Laboratories Inc. and PooPrints, says his company is “servicing over 6,000 communities in six countries. We are currently receiving an average of 300+ pieces of poop a day,” according to trade publication Rental Housing Journal.
Sav states that she found an envelope stuck in her door as she left her apartment on Feb. 12. The envelope contained three violations of the dog poop policy, substantiated by DNA testing. The instances were listed as occurring on Nov. 3 and 22 as well as Dec. 13. The complex management also informed the couple that they would need to permanently remove their dog.
Sav claims they did not register their pet or sign any lease conditions concerning the dog until Nov. 27.
The complex did “not just give us a warning a first notice and given us time to correct ourselves but you’ve also said now you have three days to get rid of our pet,” she says.
Sav also says she was informed that the complex would perform a spot check 30 days after the deadline to remove the pet and told that they would be evicted if it was still on the premises.
“So we’re being threatened to be evicted out of our apartment,” she tells the camera and then indicates her pregnant body saying “30 weeks pregnant—two months before we have the baby. because they found dog poop.”
Sav says that when the complex manager was asked why all the notices came at once, the manager said it was because she had taken paid time off, and they were not sent out until after she had come back to the office.
“So, you’re threatening to evict someone from their house, telling them they have to get rid of their dog but you had PTO, so it’s OK?” she says to her viewers.
Despite the situation Sav and her husband have found themselves in, her video elicited very little sympathy from viewers who left their thoughts in the comments section.
@sav_zionwalker We are being charged $1,050 for dog poop!! Help me understand how this is normal 🙄 #apartment #apartmentliving #apartmentcrisis ♬ original sound – Sav&Zion
“While the timing of the notices is fd up, YOU ARE THE PROBLEM. Having a dog means PICKING UP AFTER THEM,” wrote one viewer.
Chlo (@chloweb6) added, “Maybe just .. pick it up?”
Commenting on the DNA policy at the complex one viewer wrote, “My old complex did this and I LOVED IT!! Pick up after your dog. Other people don’t like seeing, smelling or stepping in that.”
Another viewer wistfully added, “I wiiiiish my apt did something like this to ppl who don’t pick up! Bc it’s everyyyyyywhere, can’t even take a walk.”
In a follow-up video, Sav insists that she diligently cleans up after her pet. “The problem here is that they’re charging us but we literally pick up the poop.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Sav via TikTok for further comment.