As reported by the BBC:
California-based Canine Companions for Independence, a non-profit
organisation that provides highly trained assistance dogs for people
with disabilities, says "service dog fraud" is making it more and more difficult for genuine owners to be taken seriously...
It is easy to buy a service dog vest on the internet. Numerous
websites offer products such as official harnesses and tags. In some
cases they are sold with a note stating that it is the owner's
responsibility to ensure their animal is properly trained, but there is
no system of enforcement.
Erin, who preferred not to give her full name, lives with her boyfriend and their dog, Bo, in Los Angeles.
She
went online to buy a service vest for her pooch, because she wanted to
avoid the fees charged by airlines for non-service animals - in the
region of $90-$150 (£60-£100) to fly, one-way. Unlike working animals,
they must be restrained in a container for the entire flight.
Erin, who is not disabled, travels everywhere with Bo because she says she can not bear to leave him home alone....
Many travellers are accompanied by their pets because they have special
permission, based on a doctors' letter and an official certificate.
Unlike service dogs, emotional support animals (ESAs) are not required
to have any formal training, but are allowed on board without an
additional fee...
Still, she says, "I know more faux emotional support dogs than real ones."
Reposted from 2015 to add this new development:
After months of deliberation, the Department of Transportation has
released formal guidance regarding animals on planes. The 28-page
document released this month makes it clear that three types of service
animals should be prioritized for travel: cats, dogs and miniature horses...
There are many reasons someone would fly with a miniature horse,
disability experts say. Although a growing number of emotional support
animals have emerged in recent years, in the case of miniature horses,
their function as service animal is primarily physical... The animals are mild-mannered and fast learners, with nearly 360-degree
vision. They may also offer balance support to individuals with physical
disabilities...
True miniature horses, which are not to be confused with ponies, are less than 34 inches in height...
Before going to the gate, Ramouni will ask someone to lead them to the
women’s restroom. “My horse has been trained to go potty in a plastic
bag,” she said. “I would just give her the command to go potty, then I
flush it down the toilet.”..
Airlines have typically put Ramouni and Cali in the bulkhead row, which
has more legroom and no seats in front. Throughout the flight Cali
stands at Ramouni’s feet.
Reposted once more to add this report of a man who
registered a beehive as a service animal:
"I was thinking that it's just too easy to get these animals to be service animals," Keller said.
He went to a site called USAServiceDogRegistration.com,
and successfully registered the picture of the beehive as a service
animal. "[I wanted to] bring awareness to the issue that anyone could do
this," Keller said...
A quick web search turns up many service animal registration sites. But
Keller's stunt showed that some of them do very little to verify the
animals they're registering. "They're very silly. They don't mean
anything," said Jaymie Cardin, who trains service dogs at AZ Dog Sports in Scottsdale.
"You can go pay for a registry on one of those web sites, and
basically, you're just paying for a piece of paper and to put a name on a
list."...
Plus, federal law says a service animal
can only be a dog or miniature horse, so, no bees. "The law is pretty
clear that a service animal is an animal that is trained to perform a
specific task related to the disability," said Sey In, an attorney with
the Arizona Center for Disability Law. A service animal doesn't need to be registered anywhere, let alone on a third party website.
Keller
hopes all the buzz around his beehive stunt proves his point about
these registration sites. "It's making people believe all animals are
service animals when they're not," Keller said. "And there's a clear
difference."
Via
Neatorama.
Lots of people bring them into grocery stores here, and the store is reluctant to confront them.
ReplyDeleteIt's a difficult situation. I don't want to live in a world where people with service dogs have to show paperwork every time they walk through a door. And it's often easier and far less expensive for disabled people to find a suitable dog and train it themselves than to get one through an agency.
ReplyDeleteOn the plus side, the law in the US is that service dogs have to be admitted (and the handler's word is the only evidence required that it is a service dog), but they can be ejected if they misbehave or are out of control. No-one has to put up with a badly behaving dog, service animal or not.
..."they can be ejected if they misbehave or are out of control. No-one has to put up with a badly behaving dog, service animal or not."
DeleteIf they want to spend the next three years being sued by the disability lobby.
Don't forget: Some nonhandicapped people use handicapped parking permits to get into more advantageous auto parking spaces.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAn emotional support dog is not legally protected to the same degree as an actual service dog. For example, they do not have to be allowed in restaurants, stores, and airplanes. They are allowed to be in the homes of people who live in an otherwise non-pet building, however.
ReplyDeleteYou know an easy to identify people who don't like dogs? Take one into a grocery and watch folks' expressions.
ReplyDeleteVolunteer puppy raisers for service dog organizations don't have access rights protected by the ADA as people with disabilities do. But early socialization of these dogs is critical to their training. A working service dog has to be able to walk into any public venue without distraction. A "been here done this" attitude.
So we puppy raisers rely on the support and generosity of businesses to permit us access with our pups in training. When we're met with resistance, we're told about negative experiences with under trained, badly behaved and fake service dogs.
The ADA protects the rights of an individual with a disability to use a service dog as an assistive technology, same as using a wheelchair, but the regulation is also written to protect privacy. It's not legal for a business to ask a person about their disability. And this is the loophole folk use to bring their pets into stores and restaurants.
Like The Guy from Dallas says above, there is always somebody who thinks the rules are not for them.
Donna -- I disagree with the premise of your first sentence. People might just not like dogs in environments where they don't generally belong, or they might like dogs but be highly allergic to them. I would think that if the trainers wore special vests that indicated that they were training service dogs, people would be a lot more welcoming to them (well, except for the allergic people.) I think shoppers just like to ensure that dogs in public spaces will be controlled (no licking the produce or biting the kids) and cleaned up after (no one wants to step in a puddle of pee, or worse.) But to get back to the original point, people who claim service dog status illegally is flat-out wrong and harmful to those who really do need them.
ReplyDeleteWhile the need for people genuinely needing ESAs is generally bullshit, the functional need for them is crucial. Traveling with a dog is not as easy as it should be; so many hotels, in April 2016 are still nowhere near pet friendly.
ReplyDeleteA huge part of this problem is the existence of puppy mills and breeders, adding to an overpopulated dog/pet population, meaning many are stray, poorly behaved/not properly trained, and/or bounce around shelters and homes. I can see a business like a hotel not being cool with dogs that constantly bark.
Many French handicapped parking spots have a bonus sign that says: If you want my spot, you gotta take my handicap as well. It's a reminder to selfish people to have some empathy. When people wonder why nothing is nice anymore, it's because of these cheaters.
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to such a sign: https://www.evasionfm.com/medias/photos/big/23186.jpg
"she says she can not bear to leave him home alone"
ReplyDeleteAre we sure Erin "is not disabled"? This sounds like an illness.
I used to roll my eyes at the "emotional support dog" title, especially on airplanes. Now having shipped my pups as cargo, I understand why emotional support dogs are common.
ReplyDeleteMy two ~45 lbs rescue dogs needed paperwork saying they are not a "prohibited breed" (typically breeds with a short snout but some airlines prohibit a lot of breeds). I needed the correct crate size for each (extra-large for these medium dogs) that was only compatible with certain aircraft - all baggage doors are not created equal. Depending on the airline, they allowed only certain layover cities that could support pets. I was shipping them in the summer and the temperature needed to be under 85*F. Fortunately I was able to ship them without any issues.
This process cost me $400 per dog (plus crates). An ESA certificate would have been about $75 each and a lot less stress. This experience gave me quite a bit of perspective. Now I understand why people break the rules, at least in airports.