I know this is an older post. Hopefully adding to it won't start another debate. However, I have used a program trained service dog for many years (the one in the photo is not the one I'm talking about.) I think people are unaware how much fraud could be eliminated if business owners would stop refusing to enforce the ADA. Countless businesses refuse to put their foot down for animals who violate ADA standards and are not legal service animals. As we should all know, it is usually fairly obvious when a dog is not behaving properly in public and every person who passes that animal judges that it is most likely being passed off as one fraudulently.
In my opinion, the business owners (who misunderstand the ADA and think everyone is going to sue them) are doing a disservice not only to their customers as a whole, but to those of us with legitimate service dogs whose dogs are distracted by these out of control pets, or even attacked. This can immediately end the career of a $30-50,000 service dog (yes, those are the typical values for most program dogs) when they are traumatized by "fake SDs" in public and they are no longer able to do their job.
Unfortunately, members of the public who do not use service dogs, also don't seem to remember that service dogs are still dogs. They are basically on the intellectual level of a toddler. They have occasional slip-ups. No, this can't be a regular thing, but the ADA allows the handler to correct the misbehavior and continue on with their shopping/etc as long as the behavior is curtailed. It seems to me sometimes that one imperfect move in public you are judged as being a fraud.
We flew with my SD back to WDW last month for a two week trip and had no problems. He did wonderfully, and he made it possible for me to go. I was impressed by the improved standards set forth by the ACAA and how many FEWER dogs I saw in the airport, especially wearing ESA or SD vests. If you lie on that federal document attesting to the training of your service dog, and then your caught lying or having an unsuitable animal flying with you, not only do you NOT get to fly, there are serious repercussions for perjury. This is a whole new level of seriousness that was never even touched before by the previous "rules".
Regarding the ADA and every day business, if these businesses asked the two legal questions (Is that a service dog used for a legal disability? (and) What task(s) is the dog trained to do to mitigate your disability?) for one, this would eliminate a ton of fraudsters. Most fakers haven't done their homework to know this can be asked nor what to say in response. Many will say "emotional support" which doesn't qualify and they should be refused. Similarly, even if the dog is a legal SD, but is not house trained or behaves in a chaotic/ill mannered way in your place of business, you have every right to have the animal be removed, as long as you allow the person to come back in without it.
If places really did this, there would be no need to quibble over licensing, certification, etc. But for the most part, businesses don't address the problem and the public blames the ADA.
This is a difficult topic for me because, as a person disabled by serious mental illness, a lot of the public wants to discount my experience anyway, or laugh at me for having what they think is "stress" -- not understanding the difference between an SMI and mild every day stressors in your life. I've been ridiculed for using a service dog by individuals who don't "see" my disabilities or all the years I've spent hospitalized, unable to do anything for myself, unable to take care of my basic needs or manage every day tasks, let alone know who or where I am, what I'm doing, what year it is, what's a hallucination or a delusion versus a real time event, etc.
This has even CAUSED problem with my long time service dog, because as much as I cannot function without him, many of the first several years I had him up until now, I was frequently hospitalized against my will for months at a time, with no one to maintain his training or bond with me. This meant, that every time I was released from the hospital, more of his training had been lost and soon he was having more issues in public because of all my time in the hospital, as well as frequently not being able to leave my house. I got him in 2016 and only last year was he retrained for 8 months because I actually REQUIRE his assistance and am horrified as well, at the thought, that somebody else would again think I was a fraudulent service dog handler. I WANT nothing more than his perfect assistance and behavior -- it is mortifying to me if he's not up to par. But this has only been caused by the severity of my disability, not because I'm not disabled or have done my due diligence to conform to the law.
At this point, he has only one task (which is legal) but really doesn't completely provide all the assistance I need because he's older and his ability to learn new tasks is less and he's starting to have hip issues. And sometimes he still makes mistakes in public because of our long history together. I adore my service dog, but he is not perfect and I'm counting down the days until I can get another one fully trained with more tasks and without the baggage of my disability history. I am back to being able to live with my husband again (I was sequestered from my family for 15 years while I received specialized help from a specific doctor and program) and am not going away for long hospitalizations as often. I don't anticipate the same issues of not being able to maintain his training because of being away. But as part of my illness I am terrified every minute of the day, and he makes it possible to be in public and feel safe enough, and his one task still is a mitigating factor to my disabilities, even though I wish he had more.
I know this is extremely long, and I'm grateful if you've read all of this. It just seems like a lot of the problems faced by people with service dogs, and even the public's interactions with service dogs inspire a lot of vitriol from people who are less informed about what goes on, and what could actually be done within the current laws. I wish I could pay for there to be ongoing PSA's about service dogs, the laws about them, and all the issues surrounding them -- including consequences for faking. Just tonight, listening to the news, I AGAIN heard a lawyer defending service dog users, and he completely misinformed the public about the laws, saying they have to be "certified" have "papers" and be "federally licensed". If even people like this can't get it right, how's the public ever supposed to understand?
Okay, I'm sorry to bore you with my troubles and perspectives (by the way, despite my name, my disabilities are far more than only my CPTSD). But I hope it gives you a glimpse into at least one person's point of view, who uses a legit service dog and tries like heck to make sure every "I" is dotted and every "t" is crossed. I wish you could understand how humiliating it can be to be following all the rules and still be judged so harshly every time you manage to get out of the house or if your service dog occasionally misbehaves.
If I've clarified anything for anyone here, I hope it's been in a positive way. My illnesses revolve around intense shame among many other things, and this topic does not curtail the supply of that emotion under any circumstance. I'm really not a jerk so I hope I haven't been offensive. Just really affected by this topic. Thank you so much for listening. I welcome comments though I hope they will be kind.
