Want to take your pet on a plane? Into a restaurant? To your workplace? Just fill out this form, pay your $79, and you are good to go! No need for time-consuming training. The certificate looks authentic, and should intimidate anyone who questions it.
Special collars, vests, tags, and other paraphernalia are available at extra cost.
Let me know how this goes. I have an adorable cockroach I need to take to McDonald’s for emotional support. Looks like I might have to define Cocky as a Miniature Labrador, however.
Nitpick/FYI, emotional support animals are not (in general) service animals. Service animals do things, they lead the blind, they can help someone having a seizure, they can be trained to help with daily household chores. Emotional support or companion animals don’t do that.
The problem now is people abusing the system and you end up with livestock on airplanes or students in college dorms with cats and dogs.
I have a relative that runs a dorm that’s been having to deal with this issue. Kids coming from all over the country and suddenly find out that they have to live in confined quarters with animals they’re allergic to. Since you can’t really ask questions of the pet owner, the only thing she’s been able to do for a lot of these people is to tell them to find a doctor and get a written letter stating that they’re allergic to [animal] and with that she has some leverage to move people around.
I’ve been saying for years that I wish people that actually need service animals would push for stricter rules about them (ie getting an ID card that a doc has to authorize) specifically because the system is being abused and at some point it’s going to boil over with people being so sick of it. It doesn’t seem fair that someone who needs a service animal may not be able to enjoy the freedoms they should because a bunch of other people found a loophole to bring their peacock on a plane or their cat to school.
I know I may sound like a goofy hippie or something for saying this, but what exactly is so wrong with animals being around people more often?
People bring babies and small children into places, and the children make noise, they shriek with ear-piercing screams, possibly throw or break things, cause tremendous commotion, etc. And we just accept it. But I’d be thrown out of the same place for having a cat with me, even if the cat was in a cage. I’d probably be thrown out of there if I brought a parrot on my shoulder, even if the parrot was trained to not make noise and to not fly around. I’d probably be thrown out if I had a snake wrapped around my shoulder, even if the snake was friendly, did not bite, and did not slither around.
It’s a perfect example of ‘I’m sure your’s is fine, but what about all the others’. And let’s not compare them to children, you can leave your pets at home.
Also, as I mentioned above, what about all the people that can’t (or don’t want to) be around your pets.
There are people whose lives are really helped by the fact that it’s pretty unregulated, but I’m afraid there are far more who are just taking advantage because they can.
I see lots of signs saying things like “service animals only, no support animals allowed” - so people are becoming aware of the difference.
The fact that you can leave your pets at home doesn’t change the fact that you can also, conceivably, bring almost any animal into virtually any place as long as the animal is sufficiently trained to not make trouble.
If I had to eat in a restaurant with either a screaming child nearby, or a guy nearby with literally ANY animal that you can name, as long as the animal is hygenic and does not bite, make noise, or perform bodily functions at the table, I would rather have the animal.
I agree that it’s being abused. Heck, just the other day at Kroger I saw an aged, quivering dachshund in some motile old guy’s shopping cart, laying in a comfy dog bed ensconced in the front part of the cart where a child would sit, draped with a “service dog: do not pet” banner around his trembling little front shoulders.
I mean, I get it, it’s a comfort dog, the old guy was probably just an old widower or something, but…I don’t know. And you’re right, you can’t say anything to these people. That weiner dog wasn’t going to be helping it’s owner with a seizure, crossing the parking lot or anything though. It was just there.
That’s just the point. I suspect most people who want to bring their pets with them have not trained them adequately, and would refuse to accept that their pet is not ready for this kind of stress.
I’ve raised four guide dogs, and my daughter raised one more, and took him on planes all the time. The guide dogs are not just random animals, but have been bred for many generations for obedience, calmness, not being distracted by noises or other animals, and quietness. And still 1/3 to 1/2 of the animals get career changed and do not make it as guides.
Just an example of how these dogs are different from normal dogs. I’ve been to raiser events where there have been maybe 100 puppies, all less than a year and a half, together. Not one of them barked.
Uh, what’s your point. My point was that you can leave your pets at home, you can’t leave your kids at home.
I think many people would agree with that. I also think many people would rather listen to a baby cry than smell dog shit, listen to a dog yap for 45 minutes or worry about dog fur in their food.
Again, sure, maybe your dog is a perfect angel, but they’re not all like that, especially if you end up with multiple ones in the same restaurant.
However, I’m seeing more and more pet friendly restaurants and bars, so we’ll have to see how it goes.
Hopefully, it’ll be like smoking. That is, instead of the government forcing every business to allow people to bring in pets, we can have “no pets allowed” and “pets welcome” businesses.
Also, the fact that you can, but probably shouldn’t is why some asshole is selling “registered service animal” ID cards and “doctor’s notes” that are about is real as MMJ cards that you can get by walking into a dispensary and talking to a doctor for 3 minutes or ordering Rx meds from commercials that come with a ‘doctors consultation’
Yes, it’s real and technically legal, but your ruining it for the people that legitimately need these things and go through the proper channels.
More animals being around in public places is not a problem needing a solution. Kids are dirtier, louder, and more trouble.
Getting a trained, certified service animal from a professional school costs 20-40K. Most people train their own to do what they need done. The law allows this, because except for really complex tasks like a seeing eye dog, you don’t need a pro trainer.
If an animal is not behaving, they can be expelled from a public place whether they are a service animal or not.
Fake certifications are on the market because employees of various public accomodations don’t know the law and this is the easiest way to get them off your back. I’d bet that most of the people who buy fake certifications have real service animals. The reason for this is because most real service animals don’t have certifications, yet people seem to think they should have one.
The “rampant abuse” means that on Wednesday you’ll see a dog, and then next Monday you’ll see another dog. Maybe once a year, you’ll see a dog that clearly doesn’t belong and is causing problems. I have yet to see a service animal misbehave, but I’m sure some people do bring animals that can’t handle a public place.
With the exception of planes and trains, no one is bringing their animal with them just for the fun of it. If you’re dragging your dog to Wal-mart, you probably need the dog with you.
A service dog is like a wheelchair, walker, or oxygen tank. No one is going to ask you at a public accomodation to prove with documentation that you need your wheelchair.
The people with real service animals know that the law explicitly forbids businesses from asking for certification. It’s the fakers who want a fake certificate to intimidate people.
No, this is wrong. I even mentioned my aunt that runs a college dorm. She’s mentioned, many times, about the problem with people using this loophole to bring their dogs to school. Also, the last time I saw a dog in a Target, the employees were a few aisles behind cleaning up it’s messes.
The fact that this is becoming a a more and more common problem is why we have this thread.
Also, as I mentioned earlier, keep in mind that there’s a difference between an emotional support animal and a service animal.
And no one is going to ask you to prove you need a wheelchair because it’s not bothering anyone else. It doesn’t smell, it doesn’t shed, it doesn’t leave droppings, no one is allergic to it etc. And, more often than not, when you see someone in a wheelchair, you can also see that they can’t walk. In the end, no one asks about a wheelchair because it’s not going to affect them in any way. OTOH, someone like my mom, will start sneezing, wheezing and sometimes even get hives within 10 minutes or so of being in the presence of any cat and most dogs. It usually takes about 24 hours before she’s back to normal.
First I’ll say I don’t mind pets or children that keep quiet as many of both do, and I’m not especially allergic to pet hair.
But
I don’t see why people wouldn’t compare them. They can both cause noise and disruption at public places they don’t really need to be. Since you can leave children behind, at home or somebody else’s home with adults (or your older kids or older kid baby sitter) to watch them. That’s often more of a hassle or expense than with a pet but why is that everyone else’s problem?
Probably as many people in some social circles don’t want to be around children as pets.
IOW you haven’t provided any really objective reason to exclude pets more than children*. It’s just a convention/value judgement (or has been one though changing) that you agree with. Which is OK, but it’s just not some logical deduction.
*one would be health issues of crap and piss near human food, which I think we can fairly categorically say is less of an issue with potty trained children (maybe not infants as much) than nominally house trained dogs, which are generally the animals we’re talking about though not exclusively. That’s an at least semi-objective reason, not purely a convention, for health codes saying dogs can’t be inside restaurants (as opposed to outdoor seating) or supermarkets. Another could be allergies, but in a relatively unconfined indoor space (yesterday at Home Depot there were dogs on their leashes, and little kids off their leashes ) not necessarily a real issue except for extremely allergic people, but they can be extremely allergic to lots of things.
I’m a store cashier. I have yet to have a small child assault me in any way other than vocally (and if I say “Only inside voices in the store” they usually comply), but I once had a service dog damn near bite my right hand. Since that hand is my only good hand, that dog is lucky it didn’t get thrown against the wall.
And even if the animal is perfectly well-behaved, allergies are a thing. I, personally, am not allergic to dogs or cats (or alpacas or peacocks), but there are plenty of people who are.
As one of those people, I would qualify this to note that whatever “the law” says, part of normal functioning society does not–and, normally–need not be subject to a reading of the law. It takes 10 seconds to pull out your wallet or show the tag.
If that sustains the image whereby the law is neglected, and fosters (by your post) abuse by false credentials, that’s “normal”) life.
You might have the dog in walmart because it isn’t a good idea to leave him in the car due to heat.
But was this really a problem? Did the dog do anything, or just sit quietly and tremble?
I don’t have a fake service animal, but I do wish it was more accepted to just bring well-behaved pets into normal places of business. I know some people aren’t a fan, but I think those of us whose days are made by seeing a dog in public should get some consideration, too. Poorly behaved animals should be asked to leave, of course. But a friendly dog quietly walking down the isle of walmart doesn’t seem like a problem to me.
To the people talking about allergies; people are also allergic to fragrances like perfumes and colognes. They can cause runny nose, itching eyes, irritated skin, and more. People fucking slather themselves in fragrances, and while I’m not actually allergic to it, it drives me crazy when I have to sit near people drenched in perfume or cologne. Do you have any idea how much it sucks to try to eat a porterhouse and savory vegetables, while giant clouds of floral fragrance eminate from the table of people next to you, totally fucking up the palette and interfering with your enjoyment of the food? It sucks. It sucks more than having a dog nearby. It sucks more than having a cat nearby. I would rather have ANY ANIMAL nearby than have to deal with that shit. Where are the laws and rules regarding the abuse of fragrances?
) not necessarily a real issue except for extremely allergic people, but they can be extremely allergic to lots of things.