A lot of people now claim their pets to be service animals in order to enjoy public accommodations such as shopping, dining out, or flying. What they these people usually do is they purchase a service vest or claim a service dog ID kit online.
According to disability advocates, this growing trend of misrepresenting pets as service animals would be considered a civil offense soon. In fact, legislators in Massachusetts are considering a bill that would penalize fake service animal owners.
This bill would not only punish owners of fake service animals but also expose operations that sell dogs that aren’t adequately trained to veterans. This places disabled people at risk. The main problem that many are facing is the lack of an official civil dog registry – although there are registries such as the SARC.
If the bill would be approved, disabled people will also be able to enjoy their rights since this reduces suspicion among business owners. Fakers can also get fined up to $500 and be required to render 30 hours of community service.
Article source: Bostonglobe.com
Are you an owner of an assistance animal?
The Service Animal Registry of California invites you to have your assistance animal registered in order to designate its status. We also encourage you to take our online classes so you can be fully aware of your rights and gain more knowledge about your support animal.
Finally, we present to you our book entitled, “ASSISTANCE ANIMAL LAWS: LEARN YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING SERVICE ANIMALS, EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMALS, THERAPY PETS, AND OTHER DOGS, CATS, AND ASSISTANCE ANIMALS” to provide you with a complete education on assistance animals.
Purchase your copy of the book by clicking the text or image below.
