# Dear Weirdo: please curb your so-called "service dog" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 27, 2017, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903 "2017-02-27T00:51:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903/21 "2017-02-27T04:09:06Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > I know it’s a local law (and I honestly thought it was true at the federal level, too) that a business is not allowed to ask the nature of the disability. > [@GaryM](#): > > However they are allowed to ask what service the animal is trained to provide You are correct but incomplete:[ > [@](#): > > The Justice Department permits two questions to be asked of a person that arrives at your place of business with a service animal: > > Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? > What task has the dog been trained to perform? > > That is it! No other questions are permitted. Questions like “do you have a disability?” or “do you have proof that your dog is a service animal?” are both inconsiderate and illegal. ]([A Service Animal and Public Places](http://www.clearcounsel.com/service-dogs-and-public-places/))Nevada has a law about misrepresenting an animal as a service animal, too:[ > [@](#): > > NRS 426.805 Fraudulent misrepresentation of animal as service animal or service animal in training unlawful; penalty. > > 1. It is unlawful for a person to fraudulently misrepresent an animal as a service animal or service animal in training. > > 2. A person convicted of fraudulently misrepresenting an animal as a service animal or service animal in training is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500. ]([NRS 426.805 Fraudulent misrepresentation of animal as service animal or service animal in training unlawful; penalty. :: Chapter 426 Persons With Disabilities :: TITLE 38 PUBLIC WELFARE :: 2010 Nevada Revised Statutes :: Nevada Revised Statutes :: US Codes and Statutes :: US Law :: Justia](http://law.justia.com/codes/nevada/2010/title38/chapter426/nrs426-805.html)) Frankly, I think it should be part of the deal that a person has to be able to provide proof that an animal is a service animal. I can’t see that being a burdensome regulation, but I’d be willing to be hear how I might be wrong about that. Otherwise, like **SteveG1** and **Springtime For Spacers** , I want a humongous and/or deadly service animal. Or maybe just Service Hornets or something. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903/22 "2017-02-27T04:37:50Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Frankly, I think it should be part of the deal that a person has to be able to provide proof that an animal is a service animal. I can’t see that being a burdensome regulation, but I’d be willing to be hear how I might be wrong about that. Sorta like demanding trans people whip out their ID upon your request before entering the bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903/23 "2017-02-27T04:40:18Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Sorta like demanding trans people whip out their ID upon your request before entering the bathroom. 😕 You equate trans people with animals? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903/24 "2017-02-27T04:43:29Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 😕 > > You equate trans people with animals? > > :eek: Do you expect the dog to present an ID upon request? :eek::eek: ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903/25 "2017-02-27T04:47:09Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Do you expect the dog to present an ID upon request? :eek::eek: That’s twice now that you’ve equated people with animals. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903/26 "2017-02-27T04:56:59Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > That’s twice now that you’ve equated people with animals. No you. Who is supposed to prove something, the dog, or the person you’re oppressing because you live such a privileged life you have nothing better to do? My neighbor has a service dog. He has PTSD. Yes, a white people disease that must drive you cray cray. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903/27 "2017-02-27T05:10:29Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Dunno what you are talking about. Actual service dogs do not shit/piss whenever they feel like it. They are highly trained…wait for it…service dogs. They know their job and they DO NOT poop as they like. And if they do, it’s because they are very sick or something else is wrong with them. A women I went to junior high with (ETA in the mid 1970s) has been legally blind since birth (her parents insisted she be mainstreamed because they believed - correctly - that she was not handicapped) and a few years ago, she successfully sued a taxicab company because a driver wouldn’t let her dog ride with her. :mad: Believe me, you can tell just by looking at her that she is blind. She wears very thick glasses to enhance what little vision she does have. But yeah, people who have “service” iguanas, parakeets, etc.? Get real. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903/28 "2017-02-27T05:19:17Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Sorta like demanding trans people whip out their ID upon your request before entering the bathroom. No, sorta nothing like that at all. In fact, what a stupid fucking thing to say. Most jurisdictions are quite specific about what animals may (or may not) be considered to be a “service animal”. No, in most places, you cannot simply decide all by yourself that you need a fluffy companion, and then businesses must let you take your pooch wherever you go. Nor can you simply get a doctors note and then take your pooch to whatever business you like. Regulations exist that specifically define “service animals” Thank God in my area, there are regulations: > [@](#): > > Guide Dog & Service Dog Certification > > Guide and service dogs help people with disabilities avoid hazards or perform tasks. Guide dogs help people with visual impairments while service dogs help people with other kinds of disabilities such as hearing impairments and epilepsy. They can help a person navigate through public areas, alert them to sounds, open doors and do other tasks. > The Guide Dog and Service Dog Act and regulation govern how guide and service dogs and their handlers are certified. Certification increases public safety, raises training standards and improves public access for dog and handler teams. > > There are two ways to be certified: > > 1. Receive a trained dog from an accredited school > 2. Pass a public safety test > > **Training and testing ensures only dogs who behave well in a variety of environments are certified.** In other words, your random mutt that shits on the carpet of a casino is not a suitable service animal. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903/29 "2017-02-27T05:22:33Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > No you. Who is supposed to prove something, the dog, or the person you’re oppressing because you live such a privileged life you have nothing better to do? My neighbor has a service dog. He has PTSD. Yes, a white people disease that must drive you cray cray. Holy fuck, have you lost your mind or just gone on a bender of some kind? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903/30 "2017-02-27T05:27:36Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > My Service Dog is very helpful to me in the Vegas casinos, at the slot machines and the blackjack tables, for you see, I have no arms or legs. Shouldn’t your name be Bob? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903/31 "2017-02-27T05:43:30Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > No you. Who is supposed to prove something, the dog, or the person you’re oppressing because you live such a privileged life you have nothing better to do? My neighbor has a service dog. He has PTSD. Yes, a white people disease that must drive you cray cray. WTF? What about the ‘stress disorders’ that the staff in (any) establishment have to deal with cleaning up fuckng DOG SHIT? Y’know, if you are THAT stressed (and your dog is a shitter) then you get to stay home. Simple. My disability does not override YOUR right to a shit-free walk through the Casino/Post Office/Walmart. FFS :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903/32 "2017-02-27T05:57:13Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Sorta like demanding trans people whip out their ID upon your request before entering the bathroom. Not like it at all, actually. Transgender people don’t have any impact on bathrooms that may make it more difficult for other people to use them. Pet owners who take their pets into public places, on the other hand, are potentially causing nontrivial allergy, hygiene, safety, and/or nuisance problems for other people. A more apt analogy would be if transgender people (or any other group of people) for some reason had a serious medical need to, say, smoke cigarettes everywhere they went. They should still be allowed to use public places like anybody else, but they might well be required to show their MandatorySmoker card to prove that they weren’t just some asshole faking a medical condition to get around no-smoking regulations. Likewise, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to request that people with pets in public places should be able to show some kind of ServiceAnimal card to prove that they aren’t just assholes faking a medical condition to get around no-pets regulations. Mind you, I personally have no dog (heh) in this fight: I don’t really care if there are pets in restaurants, on the bus, wherever, as long as they’re suitably restrained and well-behaved. But a lot of other people **do** care, and consequently we have pretty stringent no-pets regulations in most public places. Either obey the law or get the law changed, but don’t try to sneak around the law by using genuinely disabled people as your cover. That’s being a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903/33 "2017-02-27T06:20:22Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Dunno what you are talking about. Actual service dogs do not shit/piss whenever they feel like it. They are highly trained…wait for it…service dogs. They know their job and they DO NOT poop as they like. > > Whatever you saw was something else and if the law has changed to allow Floofykins to be a “service dog” cuz grandma can’t be without her that is fucked. Grandma needs to get over it or get a properly trained, super expensive service dog or, better still, stay home. Well, legit service dogs can screw up. We saw one poop on the floor in Safeway, at the meat counter, leaving a whole little trail there, and the owner just walked right on. I mean, yeah, she was blind, but presumably she had a sense of smell. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903/34 "2017-02-27T09:20:36Z")
A former coworker (temp, fortunately) somehow scammed HR into allowing her to bring her comfort husky into our office every day. It was cute, but quite unnecessary. Not particularly well-behaved, either. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903/35 "2017-02-27T10:04:14Z")
I often feel like the only person in Australia who isn’t particularly fond of dogs. I don’t hate them but at best I’m “oh, hai” towards them - so I can sort of sympathise with the OP. Seeing-eye dogs provide a vital service and should absolutely be allowed anywhere their owner is. But I raise my eyebrow at “service animals” just because someone wants to bring their pet with them everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903/36 "2017-02-27T10:41:00Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I see people with “service animals” (dogs) all over the fucking place here in Las Vegas. It’s a trend I don’t care for. > > I was at the Post Office a few weeks ago and one of the guys behind the counter turned a man with a small dog away, telling him he couldn’t bring the animal inside unless it was a Seeing Eye dog (which it clearly was not and the guy was clearly not blind). The doofus tried to argue that since there was no sign saying he couldn’t bring it in, he was allowed. The Postal Employee was having none of that and the guy left while hurling curse words and invective at the employee. I happened to get called to his counter when it was my turn and I loudly thanked him for his actions. > > Fuck your dog and fuck you, asshole. Boy, if THAT anecdote doesn’t set off ambivalence triggers for the OP… ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903/37 "2017-02-27T11:08:56Z")
So the impression I’m getting is that dogs are the only animal that is eligible for either/any of these roles (seeing eye and service)? ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903/38 "2017-02-27T12:27:32Z")
I’m rather surprised at such an amount of ableist bullshit on this forum, given the general preponderance of leftie SJWs. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903/39 "2017-02-27T12:46:46Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > What happens if you fall on the floor? We’ll change his name to “Mat." ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903/40 "2017-02-27T12:54:20Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > So the impression I’m getting is that dogs are the only animal that is eligible for either/any of these roles (seeing eye and service)? Have you heard about [Panda, the guide horse](http://www.theclickercenter.com/ThePandaProject.html)? Horses are smart and trainable and domesticated, just like dogs. They also can live about three times as long as a Labrador! I met Alex Kurland, Panda’s trainer, last year. A fascinating woman. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-weirdo-please-curb-your-so-called-service-dog/780903.md?page=3)