Photo courtesy: Charleston Gazette-Mail
It seems that more people nowadays are using vests and other gear on their dogs to imply that they’re service animals even when they’re not. Unfortunately, vests and other credentials are not a valid proof of a real service animal. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has no government certification for service animals so that disabled individuals would not have to go through the hassle of acquiring it.
The sad part is that because of this lack of government-issued certification, people with no disabilities are taking advantage of this situation. This has negatively affected the privilege of disabled individuals to use their rights, especially in public places. If you plan to use a fake service dog for your own benefit, think again. It’s considered illegal.
The accommodation of real service dogs can be jeopardized in several ways because of impersonators. For example, most airlines limit the number of animals for each flight. United Airlines accommodates up to 3 service animals. If there are 3 fake animals on the flight, that would place undue harm to a fourth person with a real disability.
18 states, including California and Virginia, have laws that address the misrepresentation of service animals. Businesses should be more careful in accepting service animals. To identify if a person needs the animal with him/her because of a disability, establishments are allowed to ask only 2 questions – if a dog is required due to a disability and the task/s that the dog is trained to do to assist the disabled person.
Article source: Charleston Gazette-Mail
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.
