I’d be in favor of suspending/revoking their drivers licenses. If they don’t have the basic decency concepts required to get why handicapped folks should get the closer parking spots, they can get used to walking from the bus stop.
1 Like
There is a toxic cloud of smug/privilege around the ownership of companion animals. These creatures have a lot to teach us, and before I inherited my dog, I could not have imagined how important he would become to my own growth. That said, he was too easy to procure, The person I got him from just hadn’t thought it through. I think breeding and selling and buying pets should be harder than it is. By way of analogy, I like the way Japan regulates automobile ownership. If you have the wealth to own a car in such a crowded, bicycle friendly place, then you must constantly demonstrate that ability by keeping that vehicle in tip-top condition.
If we were to be that civilized with our pets, we would’t license animals,we’d license their owners. If your fake service animal attacks another dog, or a kid, you lose yur right to own a dog at all. It should be that stringent.
6 Likes
I work at a major museum and this has been a hot topic among our visitor services and security staff. Once in a while you see a dog that’s an actual service dog doing service dog things and behaving like one. But all too often it’s a little yappy lapdog that the owner claims is an “emotional support animal”, and the person admitting them either doesn’t know the difference between that and a real service dog or doesn’t want to deal with the anticipated confrontation.
And yes, we’ve had fake service dogs crank out some cable right in the galleries. Real service dogs usually know better than that.
7 Likes
Dogs and miniature horses are still the only legally defined service animals in places of public accommodation (stores, restaurants, event venues, etc.). Assistance animals are a broader category but only pertain to housing (e.g. a landlord may have to let a tenant keep their assistance monkey). Airplanes also have broader categories that they need to reasonably accommodate. I’m sure there are legitimate uses of emotional support animals and such but they’re not legally protected except in housing and airline contexts.
6 Likes
I saw an elderly fellow in a mall with two Italian Greyhounds in “service dog” vests. The poor things were jumpy, nervous, and clearly uncomfortable. And it was not helping that their owner kept yanking on the leashes and scolding them loudly and angrily. I cannot imagine what service those animals were providing, except giving him something on which to vent his spleen.
3 Likes
Felony. Felons can’t vote in most states. As long as that’s the case*, I’m down with it for fake-service-animal incidents.
* and I think it’s a bad case, but it is there. Come up with a better petard for those bastards and I’ll happily hoist them with it.
I think Felons should be able to vote. If Felons are common enough to constitute a discrete voting bloc, we’re doing something wrong.
10 Likes
Allowing criminals to vote is unlikely to change anything. Preventing crooks from donating money to political issues, that would make an impact!
7 Likes
Exactly the stuff that bothers me. On the one hand, I believe that the human capacity to form emotional bonds with animals is a key aspect of our nature. On the other hand, I so often see people who have no idea how to deal with their pets, who insist on yelling at their dogs rather than patiently training them. One of the many reasons this is sad is because often dogs are yelled at for attention-seeking behaviors – they’re actually looking for guidance on proper behavior, and not getting it.
Many people don’t understand the difference between service animals (covered by the ADA) and companion animals (covered by fair housing standards). You can take your licenced and trained service animal pretty much anywhere while it is on duty. Your companion animal is allowed to remain in your otherwise pet free apartment complex, stay with you in hotels, etc. but is not entitled to any special public access
8 Likes
I sure depend on [these guys][1]*, I take 'em with me everywhere but so far no one’s been the wiser.
* Strictly speaking, not animals
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_microbiota
4 Likes
You’ll be among the first up against the wall when the micro-revolution comes, bub!
4 Likes
Interesting! I’d never heard about that distinction before.
It is one of those things,though, that in a lot of situations I don’t see the legal distinction really mattering in practice. If someone has a pet they’re falsely claiming to be necessary for a condition that they want to bring into your store or restaurant or onto the bus or some other inappropriate place, it’s not really in the real world application about whether it’s a “service animal” that’s got a legally protected status or an “assistance animal” that might or might not have a legally protected status. It’s a bit more of a social pressure and manners and compassion and profit motivated problem.
Even if the “assistance animal” is not legally protected when someone is bringing their monkey into your business where he doesn’t belong, it’s tougher for the business owner to say he can’t come in when the customer claims “He’s an “assistance animal”. I’ve got PTSD and I need him here with me.”. You’ll feel like a total douchebag if you say “Well, the law says it doesn’t matter if you’ve got a serious mental health issue and he helps you or not. He’s a monkey not a dog, so the laws on my side, you still have to go.”. Especially if it turns out that somehow you misjudged whether the person is faking a real need for a service animal and it turns out they do actually have a real condition. Nobody wants to be the guy who treated someone with serious difficulties poorly. And even if you don’t feel the personal inclination to be too nice to turn away someone who has a genuine need, you have to worry about public backlash like that social media buzz after you kick them out will be “Veteran kicked out of local store over his service monkey” not “Store owner doesn’t allow in assistance animal he doesn’t legally have to”.
3 Likes
We deal with this a lot in restaurants. It seems like the biggest issue is a lot of people don’t know the details. A lot of us are afraid to question it, but we’re still on the hook legally if we let a “emotional support animal” or companion animal in. But the animals that are actually legally protected are very limited as you say. In practice its basically just going to be dogs of certain breeds (usually shepherds and labs/retrievers) and the doctors notes and a certifications most people show aren’t kosher. Basically a real service animal needs to be trained to do something practical, and is licensed through a really limited number of orgs. And legally your specifically empowered to ask questions about the animal to establish if its the real deal. A lot of places are worried they could get slapped with a law suit for even questioning the situation, and assume that any piece of paper is “official” enough to force their hand.
Its a little frustrating because I thought I had book marked a number of articles with a focus on how to keep these animals out of your resto. Apparently I didn’t, but I managed to track down some related ones that are probably more fun:
http://servicedogcentral.org/content/fake-service-dog-credentials
I was kind of excited when I first learned about this. As a service industry peon I get a real kick out of telling problem customers “no” or enforcing social norms, if and when it benefits my normal human customers especially.
See that’s the thing that surprised me a bit. There are specific legalish consequences for a lot of businesses in letting animals in. In food/bev is the health code. We could get fined/cited for letting an animal in once, and shut down for doing it regularly. We’re legally required to let actual service dogs in, and get a pass on the health code in those cases. But the fake ones? We’re still on the hook. I let your companion animal in and its still a health code violation, no matter how many doctors notes you bring in. Being mistaken isn’t a defense for us. In terms of social pressure it actually goes in the other direction. Noone but the person bringing the dog wants that dog in there. And its always a god damned purse dog! Though one time I served a cockatoo, it wasn’t a companion animal though, it was just too fun to deny the owner service. Typically I have to run around apologizing to everyone else if some one brings an animal in.
6 Likes
Yeah, we don’t have a dog precisely because they need so much more attention than cats do. Cats, even the most attached to their owners, can be left alone for a while, and they just don’t give a shit, as long as they can poop in a reasonably clean box, and have some food and water. Dogs, it’s not really recommended that you leave them alone all day, much less for a couple of days. Dogs are pack animals at heart, and really need their people around them if they don’t have a pack to hang with.
1 Like
I am a super-smeller. I find dogs to be unbearably stinky, even when they have been bathed and groomed regularly. They just leave behind a ‘cloud’ of dog smell. I get really, really irritated when I see someone walking around a grocery store or eating at a restaurant with a tiny dog that could not physically help them as a service animal.
Apparently their desire to have their pet with them trumps my comfort level because they are more important than me.
5 Likes
I can’t believe this hasn’t been posted yet:
3 Likes
In a mature society well-behaved (and groomed) animals would be welcome everywhere that people are.
3 Likes
It doesn’t surprise me that people are pulling this shit because, as a dog owner, I am endlessly frustrated by how many places my dog (not a service dog, but a well behaved dog) is not allowed to go. Should my dog be allowed everywhere? Obviously not. But if I lived in France instead of Canada I could sit at a cafe with my dog. I could go to restaurants and have the dog sit under the table. I cannot do that here, and it is a pity. It’s too bad for me and my dog, obviously, but it’s also too bad for all the people who really enjoy dogs – pretty much every time I go out with her she gets smiles and comments, and she has a whole fan club at my son’s school.
North America is very very restrictive about where you can take your dog, and now dog owners are trying to jerry the system to let their dog in through a loophole. They shouldn’t do it (it does cause real problems for people who depend on their service animals) but its not a mystery why its happening.
7 Likes
Service animals are trained to be well behaved. Other animals-- who the hell knows? The people who game the system aren’t well behaved; why should their dogs be?
6 Likes
