Posted on 10/12/2015 7:54:23 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Ah, the fake service dog. Like out-of-sync traffic lights and above-ground power lines, they’re one of those things that make my normally mild British temperament fall by the wayside.
Allow me to rephrase that - it’s not the dogs that make my blood boil, but rather their owners. Who are these people? You’ve probably seen them. For me, the most recent was a lady in the grocery store with a teacup poodle in a Coach purse. Before that, there was the guy in the health food store pushing a Yorkshire terrier in a stroller. A few years ago it was a rather surly gentleman on a bus in Philadelphia. His “service dog” kept trying to attack an elderly passenger’s footed cane. And remember my friend Sue from last week’s column? Yeah, her actual service dog was recently attacked in public by a Corgi wearing a homemade service dog vest.
For the past five or so years, there has been a marked increase in incidents of pet owners who attempt to pass off their unsocialized pets as emotional support animals. Add to that the growing number of handlers who attempt to pass off their emotional support animals as service dogs, and you have the makings of a perfect storm that makes life more difficult for a demographic that already faces considerable challenges: the disabled. If you think I’m exaggerating for effect, think again. Airline complaints against ESA’s and their handlers have risen steeply, causing many to demand a crackdown. As a response to this very issue, a recent law was passed banning so called service dogs from riding in shopping carts. Another new law makes misrepresenting a pet as a service dog a second-degree misdemeanor.
In all of the events I have personally witnessed, the humans handling these canine culprits shamelessly bullied service providers who were unaware of their rights. They blindsided these hard-working individuals by brandishing letters, threatening lawsuits, and throwing the kinds of public temper tantrums that would put a toddler to shame.
If you are one of these people, I am calling you out. If you would like to leave nasty comments, send me indignant emails, or blow up my social media accounts, be my guest. The traction is awesome and brings lots of hits to my website. I probably won’t bother to respond to you because I don’t have time to be bothered with entitled jerks - and that, my dear imposter, is exactly what you are. If on the other hand, you’re one the many beleaguered employees that has had to deal with said jerks, then listen up.
An emotional support animal is NOT, repeat NOT a service animal. They are not the same thing. ESA’s are NOT working animals. They are pets. For a refresher course on the differences click here.
A service dog has the right to accompany a handler wherever the general public is allowed. ESA’s are pets. If pets are not allowed, then neither are ESA’s. Period! Exceptions are made in matters of housing and air travel, but that’s it.
Emotional support animals are not required to go through any special training - and oftentimes, to be perfectly honest, it shows. If a so-called service dog is barking, sniffing, exploring, socializing, growling, lunging, freaking out at the sight of an old lady’s cane,or doing anything other than focusing exclusively on its handler, it is probably not a service dog.
If the animal is not a service animal, it is not entitled to be there. You can ask them to leave, and you should. This is not just a matter of principle. It’s a matter of complying with the rules and laws that may govern your place of business. Do you really want to be saddled with health code violations and the fines that accompany them because a hyper-attached pet owner just had to bring Fluffy to brunch? No pets allowed means just that. Even legitimate emotional support animals are still pets. You have every right to ask their handlers to leave, even if they get nasty.
If you’re reading this article and wondering what kind of person would risk jail time and fines for the privilege of schlepping their pets around, you’re not alone. As long as they’re promised anonymity, fakers are very frank about their motivations. They often cite reasons such as not wanting to leave their pets home alone, not wanting to hire dog walkers, not wanting to crate-train, separation anxiety (presumably the pet’s!), convenience, not wanting to pay a fee to fly with their pet, or my personal favorite, “This country is so backwards. In Europe, you can bring a dog anywher.!” I’m European and guess what? When my wife and I go out to brunch, we leave our dogs at home. Here’s why:
It’s. The. Law.
Perhaps the all-time prize-winner was the pet blogger who bragged that her fake service dog was the best trained dog she knew. I will not publish her name or the link to the article because I refuse to reward her behavior with money and/or attention, but the long and the short of it was that she felt the privilege of taking her dog in public was her reward for having put so much time and effort into training said dog. The piece reeked of entitlement and sent my blood straight to the boiling point. Thankfully, the author’s self-righteous attitude was ripped to shreds in the comment section, so perhaps the world has not gone completely mad just yet.
I’ll close this article with a missive from a client whom I’ll call Bob. Bob is combat veteran who survived a tour of duty in Afghanistan, and a second in Iraq. He came home with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and his service dog has been vital in helping him along the long road to recovery. He explained his frustration with the fake service dog phenomenon as follows:
“When people get burned by a fake service dog team, they develop anti-bodies. Then I come along with my legit service dog, and there’s an issue. They get defensive, or they ask questions they’re not supposed to ask, they give me attitude, they tail me like I’m some kind of criminal. Dude, the ‘S’ in PTSD stands for ‘stress’. I don’t need that “expletive”. And on a bad day, I can’t handle it. I knew when I enlisted that my choice involved risk, so I’m not looking for anybody’s sympathy. I’m looking to get my life back. All I want is for people to respect a set of laws that allows people like me to keep going. I don’t think that’s so terribly much to ask.” Neither do I.
But if you’re surfing Etsy to find a convincing-looking service dog vest for Snowflake, well, apparently you do. Way to go thanking our wounded warriors for their service. I told you I was going to call you out, and while I realize the animal section is generally a place for feel-good pieces, I hope I made you feel bad about yourself. If I did, don’t despair. The fix is an easy one. Instead of the faker-vest, buy Snowflake a nice fluffy bed and an interesting toy. She’ll have great fun with both when you go out for brunch and leave her - and your “letter”- at home.
For more information about service dogs, please visit the Americans With Disabilities Act’s website.
I take it Tig is not a Great Dane.
yaeh, don't know about other states, but here in California:
. Q: How can I tell if an animal is really a service animal and not just a pet? A: Some, but not all, service animals wear special collars and harnesses. Some, but not all, are licensed or certified and have identification papers. If you are not certain that an animal is a service animal, you may ask the person who has the animal if it is a service animal required because of a disability. However, an individual who is going to a restaurant or theater is not likely to be carrying documentation of his or her medical condition or disability. Therefore, such documentation generally may not be required as a condition for providing service to an individual accompanied by a service animal. Although a number of states have programs to certify service animals, you may not insist on proof of state certification before permitting the service animal to accompany the person with a disability.
And this is why people can and do abuse the law. I have a ESA but would never consider taking him into a grocery, or clothing store. However after years of people taking their little yappers to Home Depot and no one stopping them I took my dog, no one had the balls to tell me to take my 140 pound puppy out and when an old fart with two aggressive little mutts started in on me I just said my dog hadn't eaten yet and he shut up and left.
Some rant. This bloke has never been to a pub lunch on Hampstead Heath.
I like Adam Carolla's rant on people bringing "emotional support" pets on airplanes and him being forced to sit next to them. He demands that he should be able to bring a "service pelican" ( named Gilligan) on the plane then.
Some of them are hearing dogs, some are seizure dogs, some are diabetes dogs and I am sure there are other tasks they are trained for.
The key here is "trained". A service dog is on the job and it shows. They are constantly focused on their job when they are out in public.
When they are not needed they are trained (there is that word again!) to sit quietly beside their human or to curl up under their chair if possible.
They are even trained to poop or pee on command.
Any sort of badly behaving dog is not a service animal.
Seeing-eye dogs are for the blind. Service dogs were realized they could help a good deal of people. For example, those with MS or ailments. Another example is actually for those veterans with PTSD. The therepeutical benefits of a service dog are insurmountable and have kept veterans from taking their own lives and cutting down on suicide rates.
The service dog to those wheel chair bound, veterans with PTSD or other ailments, other than being blind, goes far beyond a teddy bear.
By the way, dogs are no the only “service” animals out there. Service animals also include miniature horses. Service animals do have a viable function. However, those who pass off their animals in this capacity just gives service animals a bad name. True service animals should be looked at with more respect than you give them credit. And quite frankly your disregard of them is disrespectful to our veterans and their service animals who do more than just piss and crap all over.
If Caitlyne is a woman because he identifies as one, why can’t my cow identify as a service dog???
“in my neck of the woods no one would bring their black lab or blue healer into a store or restaurant”
You should see the weirdos near L.A. with their dogs. We used to go to a coffee shop in Agoura Hills where the ultra-affected Hollywood types would be at tables conspicuously reading movie “treatments”, sipping fru-fru drinks, and dogs by their side. It was entertaining, but ridiculous so we quit going. We were embarrassed for them — the people, not the dogs — because they were trying so hard to be noticed.
Thanks, but what caught my eye, is, that dog is driving a taxi —
I couldn’t have asked for a better response to my post!
LMAOPIMPWTIME
The author is Looney tunes as well.
I carried a 115 lb Rottweiler into a bar once, similarly.
She was 10 lbs at the time, and I was a regular at the bar. The place went quiet when they saw the puppy cruising in my jacket.
Even in Maine, I sometimes see people....usually women with kids....in the supermarket section of WalMart with a small dog in the shopping cart, lying on the area of a cart where a small child would usually sit.
I’ve seen this in other stores that don’t sell food as well.
It makes me wonder what the “emotional support pet person” would do if they got what they needed....namely, a hard slap across the face and the gruffly-worded admonition to “GROW UP!”.
Probably whimper loudly, drop to the floor and curl up in the fetal position, sucking their thumb.
LOL, it is hard to find the right context for that one!
To be fair, I don’t think that woman would have caught my eye...
She wears the oversized derriere better than most.
I think you are over-reacting to doorgunner69’s post. It didn’t seem to me the post was denigrating real service animals and the people who need them (such as real, disabled veterans) as much as otherwise healthy people who are dishonest enough to try to pass off their pets as service animals.
Just my 2-cents.
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