A similar thread to this popped up a few months ago, and I recall reading numerous landlords recounting stories

Yes, I remember that too. It's interesting how they never seem to be able to prove their claims, isn't it? All these stories, so very few proven examples.

Being a landlord is running a business, and when running a business you have to have contingencies for the worst-case scenario. A half-month's rent as additional pet deposit (which is the maximum amount landlords in BC can charge) is woefully inadequate to cover the worst-case scenarios.

Don't like the risk of renting out? Then don't do it. It's as simple as that.

A responsible landlord is perfectly capable of identifying and taking care of a problem tenant (with or without pets) these days. It's just that most landlords don't want to do their due diligence, properly check out potential tenants, and they definitely don't want to do monthly inspections (as permitted by law).

I greatly suspect that the landlords who've had "problems" with tenants are the absentee sort who expect a no-issues tenant, who they will hear from only when the tenant drops off the rent check. They don't do their due diligence when checking a tenant's background, they don't go around to do monthly inspections, and then they act surprised when it turns out that a tenant is a hoarder, etc.

In other words, bad landlords attract bad tenants. If a landlord is constantly complaining about the problems they've experienced, that tells me right away that they haven't been minding their business like they should have been doing.