# Can my Purse Dog be my Service Dog if I want it to be? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 29, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-purse-dog-be-my-service-dog-if-i-want-it-to-be/479080 "2008-12-29T17:00:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![D-bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@D-bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D-bear)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-purse-dog-be-my-service-dog-if-i-want-it-to-be/479080/21 "2008-12-30T06:20:05Z")
In my expirence, working for a major airline, you will have no trouble boarding a flight with your emotional support animal. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-purse-dog-be-my-service-dog-if-i-want-it-to-be/479080/22 "2008-12-30T06:28:26Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > And this is where the ADA law is an ass. Anyone can claim any animal is a “service animal,” and there is no recourse. > Source: [Redirecting…](http://www.ada.gov/qasrvc.htm) > > Since one cannot question the “validity” of the “service animal,” let alone the “disability” of the person, the entire process is open to abuse. Completely agree. Especially this: > [@](#): > > 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. Fuck that shit. If your disability is major enough that it requires you to take an animal with you everywhere you go, then it should not be too much inconvenience to take a piece of paper with you as well. And this: > [@](#): > > 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**. Bolding mine. Doesn’t that simply beg the question? After all, the only evidence that the person actually _has_ a disability is their own say-so, and the presence of the animal. ETA: You’d think that genuinely disabled people would actually support a rule requiring ID or documentation, because it would help eliminate abuses of the very system that is designed to make their lives easier. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-purse-dog-be-my-service-dog-if-i-want-it-to-be/479080/23 "2008-12-30T06:33:20Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > That is exactly my point, it does happen. I wouldn’t even mind so much but for the fact that some of these so-called “service dogs” have had NO training, NO discipline on public behavior and give proper service dogs a bad name. Wasn’t there also a thread a while ago about a woman who brought her pet monkey to a buffet and claimed it calmed her down/comforted her (I think she had some anxiety disorder)? It wasn’t a certified service animal, though, and a lot of people were grossed out at the prospect of having a monkey at a restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-purse-dog-be-my-service-dog-if-i-want-it-to-be/479080/24 "2008-12-30T06:58:08Z")
When you think of it, aren’t we ALL handicapped by a society that conflates patriotism and shopping? Aren’t we all everburdened with crass consumer products that we have no real need for, other than to compare favorably with our neighbors? There just aren’t enough pockets on a pair of pants. Two words: Monkey Butlers. They can relieve the burden. They can even throw all your shit at the other monkeys. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-purse-dog-be-my-service-dog-if-i-want-it-to-be/479080/25 "2008-12-30T07:21:04Z")
So you plan to abuse your medical connections and the law to carry a pet with you at all times. And you come here to brag about it. I can’t believe I had held you in high esteem until now. But no, I cannot see any holes in your plan. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-purse-dog-be-my-service-dog-if-i-want-it-to-be/479080/26 "2008-12-30T09:41:28Z")
> [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](#): > > Tangent: A “Yorkie-Poo” or any other “designer dog” (aka mixed breed) will invariably be the product of backyard breeders or puppy mills, as responsible breeders won’t mix breeds. There will probably be some significant health problems in such a dog. > > Carry on. I don’t think the assumption about health issues is valid. A mongrel is a mongrel if it comes from an accidental mating between two breeds or a puppy mill. Two breeds being mixed may increase the risk of compounding health issues from the two breeds. Or not. If you’re saying that a dog from a puppy mill is more likely to have health issues, that’s another thing. But mixing breeds doesn’t automatically make them healthier (as some claim) or the opposite (as you seem to claim). That said, calling a mongrel a yorkie-poo or labradoodle will not make it something other than a mongrel. The mix might make a great dog or a terrible dog. The good thing about buying a pure breed from a kennel is that you have the opportunity to do research about the breeder, the breed and can come to some kind of knowledge beforehand what you’re gonna end up with. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-purse-dog-be-my-service-dog-if-i-want-it-to-be/479080/27 "2008-12-30T14:22:23Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > When you think of it, aren’t we ALL handicapped by a society that conflates patriotism and shopping? Aren’t we all everburdened with crass consumer products that we have no real need for, other than to compare favorably with our neighbors? > > There just aren’t enough pockets on a pair of pants. > > Two words: Monkey Butlers. They can relieve the burden. They can even throw all your shit at the other monkeys. Bad idea. Before you know it those maniancs will blow it all up, and then the damn dirty apes will take over the place. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-purse-dog-be-my-service-dog-if-i-want-it-to-be/479080/28 "2008-12-30T14:54:10Z")
> [@D-bear](#): > > you will have no trouble boarding a flight with your emotional support animal. It may not now be as trouble-free as it once was ([link](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0UBT/is_11_15/ai_71627521)). . ---
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-purse-dog-be-my-service-dog-if-i-want-it-to-be/479080/29 "2008-12-30T16:29:56Z")
This thread really just points out the holes that exist in the terrible piece of legislation that is the ADA. Bullshit! had a [good episode](http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=FC43AF4B8BF0DE7D) on the law, pointing out that one can even obtain a handicap parking placard for a variety of reasons ranging from headaches to panic disorders (or just about anything else you can concoct). The fact that people can and do abuse the system is just a sign that the system is in need of reform. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-purse-dog-be-my-service-dog-if-i-want-it-to-be/479080/30 "2008-12-30T17:30:51Z")
While reading this, I realised that what I “know” about accessibility for people with service animals is actually all from the US, and not from Canada. I started Googling, and it appears that these regulations are a provincial matter in Canada, and not all provinces have regulations in place. Alberta has [a new law coming into effect on Jan 1 2009](http://animallaw.info/nonus/statutes/stcasa2007_c_S_7_5.htm) regarding service dogs, and it appears that a system is in place to certify that the animals are really service dogs, and that an ID card of sorts can be required as proof of the animal’s training. Denying access to someone with a certified dog can lead to a 3000$ fine, and pretending to have a service dog when it isn’t certified is punishable by a 300$ fine. No mention of other animals (pigs, monkeys, horses) though. [This page](http://www.giftofgracekennels.com/id64.html) seems to be a decent summary of laws by province, though I haven’t read through them all, since I am not in the mood to deal with legalese! ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-purse-dog-be-my-service-dog-if-i-want-it-to-be/479080/31 "2008-12-30T17:32:30Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > While I think that claiming that any and all pets to be a service animal is an abuse of the system and I can understand your annoyance, the fact is that you would still have sneezing fits on airplanes, in hotels or in restaurants if a true service dog were present. The mobility and independence of the person with the dog does, IMHO, trump your allergies. You can take an antihistamine. They cannot pop a pill and be able to see/walk/carry things/function as normally as possible. I will willingly put up with sneezing/itching or taking a pill, if the need for the service animal is real. If I’m stuck sneezing on an airplane, because someone wants to have a designer dog that they can’t leave at home so they make up a need, then I’m not so willing to put up with the inconveniences to me. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-purse-dog-be-my-service-dog-if-i-want-it-to-be/479080/32 "2008-12-30T17:41:17Z")
> [@BrandonR](#): > > The fact that people can and do abuse the system is just a sign that the system is in need of reform. Well, just about any system, even the best ones, can be abused. At least with systems like welfare, or social security, or whatever, there are pretty strong laws, and relatively clear procedures for identifying and dealing with the abuse. The problem with the ADA is that abusing it is trivially easy, and there are basically no mechanisms in place to determine who the abusers are, because you’re not even allowed to ask. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-purse-dog-be-my-service-dog-if-i-want-it-to-be/479080/33 "2008-12-30T18:30:59Z")
Long before the ADA, I worked for a firm that maintained a handicapped parking pass in each company car so the executives could park right next to the airport gates. I know this because I was asked to follow someone delivering a car to the airport and drive them back. The person parked the company car right in the closest handicapped spot, opened the glovebox, hauled out the handicapped hang tag, and put it in the windshield, all in a completely unembarrassed manner. So reprehensible abuses of the system predate the ADA, sorry to say. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-purse-dog-be-my-service-dog-if-i-want-it-to-be/479080/34 "2008-12-30T20:01:48Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > When you think of it, aren’t we ALL handicapped by a society that conflates patriotism and shopping? Aren’t we all everburdened with crass consumer products that we have no real need for, other than to compare favorably with our neighbors? This is unfair, disingenuous, and doesn’t address the issue at hand. [Under the law](http://www.ada.gov/cguide.htm), “{A}n individual with a disability is defined by the ADA as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment.” One might argue we are all disabled to some degree. What is important is whether the disability meets the legal definition. Abusing the law just because the law itself is crap does not absolve anyone that they may be attempting to subvert the true spirit and intent of the law in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-purse-dog-be-my-service-dog-if-i-want-it-to-be/479080/35 "2008-12-31T00:24:15Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > This is unfair, disingenuous, and doesn’t address the issue at hand. Which is to say: it’s all too typical of a past winner of the [Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest](http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/scott.rice/blfc2008.htm). ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-purse-dog-be-my-service-dog-if-i-want-it-to-be/479080/36 "2008-12-31T03:03:31Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Which is to say: it’s all too typical of a past winner of the [Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest](http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/scott.rice/blfc2008.htm). “typical of a past winner”? :rolleyes: You know he’s not the only one here [who has won](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=478468&highlight=Bulwer) so watch where you’re swinging that broad brush, Missy. Does diluting the law explain why I’ve seen a lot of yap dogs in stores and on trains in MA over the past couple of years? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-purse-dog-be-my-service-dog-if-i-want-it-to-be/479080/37 "2008-12-31T03:16:15Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > It may not now be as trouble-free as it once was ([link](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0UBT/is_11_15/ai_71627521)). Fascinating article. Here’s my question: The passenger cleared a 100-pound “service” pig through the legal department, but she arrived with a 300-pound pig. Did the captain have any obligation to let her fly? ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-purse-dog-be-my-service-dog-if-i-want-it-to-be/479080/38 "2008-12-31T04:41:26Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > So you plan to abuse your medical connections and the law to carry a pet with you at all times. And you come here to brag about it. I can’t believe I had held you in high esteem until now. But no, I cannot see any holes in your plan. No, I wouldn’t…sigh…for the reason you mention: I don’t abuse the system in general and my medical connections in particular. But at least I’ll feel good about myself denying me my doggie knowing that my plan woulda worked. And my GQ was more my way of understanding the ADA service animal policy, so many thanks to those who helped educate me on it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-purse-dog-be-my-service-dog-if-i-want-it-to-be/479080/39 "2008-12-31T04:59:22Z")
Yes, there is a huge hole at the very center of your “plan”. Because this is general questions, I specify what kind of hole. But it is definitely a hole of previously unknown dimensions. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-purse-dog-be-my-service-dog-if-i-want-it-to-be/479080/40 "2008-12-31T14:15:42Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > No, I wouldn’t…sigh…for the reason you mention: I don’t abuse the system in general and my medical connections in particular. > > But at least I’ll feel good about myself denying me my doggie knowing that my plan woulda worked. > > And my GQ was more my way of understanding the ADA service animal policy, so many thanks to those who helped educate me on it. I am glad to hear the first sentence and sorry to hear the second. For your consideration, I have friends in your situation who just leave their dogs in a kennel while they travel and they are well adjusted dogs. (or you can go crazy with the puppy eyes at your wife) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-purse-dog-be-my-service-dog-if-i-want-it-to-be/479080.md?page=1)