Dozen dogs trash rental home, tenants to pay $18k

Two Porirua tenants have been ordered to pay their landlord $18,859 after they allowed a dozen dogs to contaminate the property.

Why Worry Property took Memorie Joe and Denise Akavi to the Tenancy Tribunal.

The pair had moved into the Niagara St property in 2015.

In 2018 the landlord became aware, via complaints from others, that there were up to a dozen dogs in the property. The tenancy was terminated, and the tribunal granted possession to the landlord on September 28.

Legal enforcement of the order was required to evict the tenants.

Adjudicator Brent Smallbone said, by that time, the premises had become a health risk.

To deal with the property, the Porirua City Council, the New Zealand Police and the SPCA had to become involved.

‘‘Every room had dog faeces on the floor. The floorboards were soaked in urine. The tenant/s had removed the carpets . . . The whole property was so contaminated that it was hard to find someone to clean it.’’

Smallbone said there was a considerable amount of rubbish left behind for the landlords to deal with and the damage done by the dogs and tenants was extensive. As a result, the landlords were unable to rent the property for more than four weeks.

‘‘I am satisfied that the damage was intentional in that the actions of the tenants made damage a virtual certainty. The damage is more than fair wear and tear, and the tenants have not disproved liability for the damage.’’

The $18,859 included $2820 for cleaning, $2345 for repairs, $4614 for painting and $2826 for carpet replacement.