Airbnb cottage near Inverness trashed by puppy seller

An Airbnb owner was left horrified after discovering her Highlands property had been trashed by a puppy seller over the course of three days.

“Superhost” Tracey Parsons, 55, had rented out the cottage, near Inverness, to a woman for 10 days last weekend.

But on Tuesday, 14 puppies and a dog were discovered at the property which was covered in dog faeces and rubbish.

“I was absolutely stunned,” Ms Parsons said. “I couldn’t believe it.”

She said she and her partner David Bradley, 55, had been alerted by a neighbour who had seen what she believed to be an abandoned car containing puppies. On knocking at the cottage, she had been hit by a foul smell and dogs yapping.

Mr Bradley attended the property where he found a couple outside waiting to buy a puppy.

They told him they were paying £1,500 for it. They left after seeing photographs from inside.

“The woman who had rented the cottage wasn’t going to let my partner in,” Ms Parsons told BBC Scotland News. “He was absolutely gobsmacked at what he saw.”

Ms Parsons also went to the property where she said she found the inside of the cottage covered in dog faeces.

“It was right up the walls and bins were full of it,” she said. “It was also on the floor wrapped in kitchen roll and had blocked the toilet.

“The puppies were caked in it and they stank.

“The woman just let them poo and wee everywhere. She even managed to break the washing machine.”

Ms Parsons said: “It’s just shocking. This is the Highlands. It’s quiet. People don’t do that here.

“We have rented out the cottage for a few years and it’s always been left in an immaculate condition. We’ve never had any problems before.”

She also said some of the puppies were in a cage which also contained metal lids from dog food cans.

It is understood by BBC Scotland News that the puppy seller, who booked the cottage under the name Rachel Tidey but has sent emails to the BBC from Camille Harland, has now been suspended from Airbnb.

She claimed some of the mess had been caused by the police allowing puppies to “run loose for a few hours”.

“It was not all pre-existing damage,” she said.

“I did offer to clean and pay for cleaning fees but the owners told me to leave.

“The puppies are all registered to me and were found to be healthy by the SSPCA and the police said there was no evidence of a crime being committed.”

She added that the information about the couple waiting at the property to buy a puppy was not accurate as she did not usually charge that price for a puppy.

Ms Parsons said there were two litters of puppies and that the Scottish SPCA estimated one of them to be five or six weeks weeks old and the other a few weeks older.

“When I rang Airbnb to tell them what had happened the man said ‘but you’re dog friendly’,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it.”

The couple have spent two days having the cottage deep cleaned before being repainted.

“It will be a couple of weeks before we can have guests in again,” Ms Parsons said.

“On the day, I felt like giving up. I just thought it’s not worth the stress.

“It does put you off a bit and makes you more wary but we’ve now bought a security camera for the outside of the house.

“You just have to get on with it.”

The couple called in the police and Scottish SPCA.

The puppies were originally seized by the charity but were returned to the owner.

Scottish SPCA inspector Andy Brown said the charity was called out to the cottage on Tuesday after receiving reports of puppies being left in a vehicle for days.

“When we attended there were no dogs in the vehicle,” he said. “A number of puppies were being kept in the property, along with their mum, and we had these animals checked over by a vet.

“The vet had no concerns over their health. We are continuing to work with the owner of these animals to ensure they are being appropriately cared for.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Officers attended along with a partner agency and carried out inquiries. No criminality was established, and no further police action was taken.”

A spokesperson for Airbnb said: “We were deeply saddened to hear about this and our specialist team is in touch with the host to provide support.

“We stand ready to assist both the police and Scottish SPCA with any investigation. Our dedicated law enforcement portal allows police forces to contact us with a suspected issue, while residents can use our Neighbourhood Support Line to report urgent concerns.”