As dozens of new luxury apartment complexes open around Greater Boston, the rental market appears to be getting more pet-friendly. A new Watertown complex is using DNA testing to make sure the grounds remain uncontaminated.
Watertown Mews, a 206-unit complex that opened in May at 1 Repton Place, now is 78-percent leased and 46 tenants have dogs, according to Community Manager Trenda Wallace.
Dog owners are required to submit samples of their pets’ waste, which are stored in a database by PetPrintsUSA. The Georgia company stores these “poo prints” to track renters who don’t pick up after their pets. So far, nobody has been hit with a fine, Wallace said.
“We haven’t had to do that at all, thank God. I think they take it pretty seriously,” she said.
Like other new luxury complexes such as the 428-unit Atmark in Cambridge, Watertown Mews does not have any weight limits on dogs, although it bars several breeds that tend to be aggressive.
“Bigger dogs are better in a way,” Wallace said. “They might have more pet waste, but they don’t tend to bark as much as the smaller breeds.”
