The landlord would have to have known that the specific animal had a history of being vicious and they had the ability to remove the animal, but failed to do so. 

It only increases the chance the pet will be a support animal. 

It'll just smell like a wet animal in the house.

Albany is a completely different animal than Buffalo, Syracuse or Rochester.

3 times monthly rent is a good standard to set rules by and in our lease we specify a 35 pound limit on animals.  

The cost in flooring damage alone from their animal dictates it.Although, it sounds like it's resolved now - good job!

We gave the guy a good portion of his security deposit back before he stormed off and we can do the rest of the walk-through.We found deep gouges in the walls due to moving, our lead-glass cabinet was broken, and the ground upstairs is soaked in animal excrement that will require redoing the hardwood floors.To be completely honest we would like to sue him over all of these repairs.

I haven't listened to this, but you might want to check it out:https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2015/09/1...Student housing is a different animal.  

Animals outside your property is not your responiblity but if they are nesting under your house then you should take care of it Make sure that the tenants are not leaving out cat food and are securing their trash.

Of course I also have a significant advantage in that I target animal (mainly dog) owners.