<\/p>\n
This article \u00a0is from Outside Online\u00a0<\/a>and it is a GREAT read and take on the service dog issue. \u00a0 I’ve discussed this before here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>\u00a0 but this guy really hit the nail on the head. \u00a0 I hadn’t thought about the possibility that a “fake” service dog could actually interfere with what a real one is trying to do.<\/p>\n At my employer, like many other big chains, they have advised us to just back off and let people bring dogs in the store unless they bark or cause other problems. \u00a0So many people are aware that all they have to do is say “My dog is a service animal” and they don’t have to prove it in any way. \u00a0There actually is a law now that makes misrepresenting a dog as a service animal a crime with a fairly hefty fee (at least in California) but I seriously doubt it’s ever been used.<\/p>\n So what’s the answer? \u00a0 Waiting for people to use common sense and not try to lie about their “emotional support animal” or just regular old Fido is never going to make a difference. \u00a0Maybe the ADA needs to be revised to create some sort of official licensing system for actual service dogs. \u00a0For now I just give people the stink eye when I see them in a store with a mangy mutt that is obviously not a service dog and secretly hope the dog bites someone and they get sued. \u00a0And aren’t all dogs \u00a0really “emotional support animals” because of their nature?<\/p>\n Here\u00a0in famously pet-friendly Los Angeles, I encounter dogs that are blatantly not service animals on a daily basis. Recently, during a morning visit to my local\u00a0caf\u00e9, I laughed when a woman whose tiny dog was thrashing around at the limits of its leash and barking fiercely at other customers loudly proclaimed that it was a service animal.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s my service dog,\u201d she said to me, scowling. \u201cYou\u2019re not allowed to ask me why I need it!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Data backs my\u00a0anecdote\u00a0up. A study conducted at the University of California at Davis found that the number of \u201ctherapy dogs\u201d or \u201cemotional support animals\u201d registered by animal control facilities in the state\u00a0increased 1,000 percent<\/a>\u00a0between 2002 and 2012. In 2014, a supposed\u00a0service dog caused a U.S. Airways flight to make an emergency landing after\u00a0repeatedly defecating in the aisle<\/a>. A Google News search for \u201cfake service dog\u201d returns more than 2.2 million results.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n This has recently led state governments to try and curb the problem through law. In\u00a0Massachusetts,\u00a0a House bill seeks to apply a\u00a0$500 fine<\/a>\u00a0to pet owners who even falsely imply that their animal may be a service dog. In California, the penalty is\u00a0$1,000 and up to six months in jail<\/a>.\u00a0Twelve\u00a0states now have laws criminalizing the misrepresentation of a pet as a service animal.\u00a0That’s good, but with all the confusion surrounding what a service dog actually is,\u00a0there’s less and less protection for their unique status.<\/em><\/p>\n A new\u00a0bill introduced to the Senate this summer by Wisconsin Democrat\u00a0Tammy Baldwin threatens to add to the confusion\u00a0even more<\/a>. If it becomes law, you’ll be able to take any animal on a plane simply by telling the airline that it’s\u00a0an ESA. Alarmingly, the\u00a0bill seems to include ESAs\u00a0in its definition of service animals.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Look, I get the desire to bring your pet along with you everywhere you go. My dogs are\u00a0as important to me as my friends and family. The first criteria my girlfriend and I apply to where we eat, drink, and travel is whether our dogs can enjoy it with us. But out of respect for the needs of disabled people, for the incredible work that real service dogs perform, and for the people managing and patronizing these businesses, we will not lie. We do not take our pets\u00a0places where they\u2019re not welcome. We never want to compromise the ability of a service dog to perform its essential duties.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n As an animal lover, don\u2019t you want the same thing?<\/em><\/p>\n The\u00a0Americans with Disabilities Act<\/a>\u00a0limits the definition of a service animal to one that is trained to perform \u201cwork or tasks\u201d in the aid of a disabled person.\u00a0So, while a dog that is trained to calm a person suffering an anxiety attack due to post-traumatic stress disorder\u00a0is\u00a0considered a service dog, a dog whose mere presence calms a person\u00a0is not. The act states, \u201cdogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n That same law makes no requirements or provisions for any registration, licensing, or documentation of service animals. It also prohibits businesses or individuals from asking a disabled person for proof that their dog is a service animal. In fact, the ADA permits only two questions to be asked of people with service animals: Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? What task is the dog trained to perform?\u00a0That\u2019s it. No inquiry can be made about the nature of the disability and no proof can be requested, nor are there\u00a0any\u00a0licenses or documents to prove a dog is a service animal.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Emotional support animals (let\u2019s just use that as a catchall for any dog that provides comfort but does not perform a specific task) are specifically excluded by the ADA, and access for them is not provided by that law. Businesses and similar entities are left to define their own policies.\u00a0Amtrak, for instance,\u00a0does not consider ESAs to be service animals<\/a>\u00a0and does not permit them to ride in passenger areas on its trains.<\/em><\/p>\n Because\u00a0ESAs\u00a0provide benefit by their mere presence, there\u2019s no burden of training for them like there is for a service dog. The presence of untrained, or poorly trained dogs in public places, and on crowded airplanes can lead to significant problems. In June,\u00a0an ESA aboard an airplane attacked the human seated next to it<\/a>, resulting in severe injury.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n So where’s the confusion come from, and why are there so many pets on airplanes these days? The\u00a0Air Carrier Access Act<\/a>\u00a0(ACAA)\u00a0does recognize ESAs and mandates that they be allowed on planes. It also goes further to place\u00a0a burden of proof on owners of both service animals and ESAs.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAnother dog once spent an entire flight barking at my dog,\u201d relates\u00a0Randy Pierce<\/a>, who’s been totally blind for the past 17 years. \u201cMy dog\u00a0was not barking back, but the barking was changing her behavior. That makes it harder for her to do her job; she loses her focus. I\u2019m 6’4″, so if she loses her focus, it means I\u2019m going to hit my head on an exit sign or a doorway or, if we\u2019re on a street, maybe even step out into traffic.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n I also spoke with my friend Kent Kunitsugu, whose 12-year-old son, Hayden, suffers from epileptic seizures. Their dog, Lola, is trained to smell the sweat associated with an oncoming seizure, alert Hayden and his parents, and then lay across him during a seizure to comfort and protect him.\u00a0\u201cWe often have to ask people to get their pets away from ours, because it\u2019s a distraction, and the dog needs to pay full attention to my son,\u201d explains Kunitsugu. \u201cPeople think we\u2019re being assholes, but we can\u2019t afford a distraction.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Pierce’s dog, Autumn,\u00a0completely ignores\u00a0other dogs, doesn’t\u00a0beg for food, sits\u00a0quietly for the duration of long flights, and generally minimizes\u00a0her\u00a0impact. That’s the result of lots of money\u2014service dogs cost upwards of $20,000\u2014and\u00a0thousands of hours of training.\u00a0Pierce, for example,\u00a0has developed a routine with Autumn that involves the dog communicating when she needs to go to the bathroom, and then doing so in a specific orientation to Pierce that enables him to easily find it and collect it in a baggie. A true service dog is essential to its human partner’s well being, as well as a huge financial investment that other untrained dogs in public places put at risk.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n The increasing presence of ESAs\u00a0on flights, and in businesses has also combined with confusion around the law to create a backlash that’s impacting true service dogs, in addition to pets.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n “On that flight, I overheard the flight attendant remark to her colleague that she wished they wouldn’t allow service dogs,” describes Pierce. His disability is obvious, but that’s not always the case for people who need service dogs, and those with disabilities already find going out in public difficult and intimidating. Fake service dogs are giving real ones a bad reputation.<\/em><\/p>\n You can order\u00a0service dog vests, tags, harnesses and other paraphernalia<\/a>\u00a0on Amazon and countless other websites. Dozens of websites and services claim to offer registry, certification, licenses, or other documentation for service dogs\u2014all scams, as\u00a0the ADA neither defines or requires any such proof.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n To take your emotional support animal on an airplane, all you need is a letter from a licensed mental health professional that\u2019s on letterhead, signed, and less than a year old. You can buy those online for a few bucks: news investigations have found\u00a0psychologists<\/a>\u00a0offering to sell them to otherwise undiagnosed clients. Heck, most of us could probably counterfeit one using Photoshop.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIn order to be a service dog, that dog has to be trained to perform a task, and there has to be a recognized disability,\u201d explains Pierce. \u201cI\u2019ve met a lot of people who tell me this is their emotional support animal, but what they\u2019ve just told me is they don\u2019t understand the law.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Pierce is frustrated that the law is so vague, often misunderstood, and simply used as an excuse to bring\u00a0pets somewhere they\u00a0don’t\u00a0belong. Because you can only ask if a person with a service dog has a disability and what tasks the dog is trained to perform, most businesses and other services simply don\u2019t question service dogs at all. And most people with emotional support animals don\u2019t realize that their pets aren\u2019t actually guaranteed equal access by the ADA, or any other law, outside of air travel.<\/em><\/p>\n Really the only mechanism available to legitimate service dog owners is to sue a business that denies them access, which just worsens the problem. \u201cThe owners of most places are intimidated,\u201d says Pierce. \u201cThey don\u2019t want a lawsuit on their hands for being wrong, and they don\u2019t know what their rights are, so they don\u2019t ask questions.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n We find ourselves in a society that requires you to present a diagnosis of mental illness (or soon, just a verbal claim of such)\u00a0if you want to safely fly with your dog. The system is broken.<\/em><\/p>\n In 2014,\u00a025,000 emotional support animals<\/a>\u00a0boarded Jet Blue flights alone. Why isn\u2019t there an airline that offers safe transport for pets? Or specific pet-friendly flights on certain popular routes?<\/em><\/p>\n And why aren\u2019t there more dog-friendly restaurants, bars, music venues, and other businesses? There are\u00a0nearly 90 million pet dogs<\/a>\u00a0in this country. That\u2019s a huge market, but also a huge problem when us owners act inappropriately. As animal lovers, creating and supporting dog-friendly businesses should be our priority. Acting selfishly to the detriment of others will not create a more dog-friendly future. We want to be able to take our dogs to more places, more often, but we have to make sure doing so is appropriate and doesn\u2019t infringe on the rights and well-being of people who need real service dogs.<\/em><\/p>\nWhat\u2019s a Service Animal?<\/em><\/h2>\n
The Impact Pets Have on Service Dogs<\/em><\/h2>\n
Quantifying Fake<\/em><\/h2>\n
Animal Lovers Must Unite<\/em><\/h2>\n