Dogs in training. DO NOT PET!

[Boxergirl]

What do you think would be the best way for a business to handle this or enforce this without making the person in need of a service dog feel like they are getting a hard time???
Seems like such a tricky subject.

The ADA has laws that every business and their employees must be aware of. It's the people with fraudulent dogs that make it harder for everyone. If everyone, owners/handlers and business owners followed the law then it wouldn't be tricky at all. As far as the general population goes, most handlers spend a great deal of time educating. It's just that far too many people seem to feel that they, or their children, are an exception.

"In situations where it is not obvious that the dog is a service animal, staff may ask only two specific questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform? Staff are not allowed to request any documentation for the dog, require that the dog demonstrate its task, or inquire about the nature of the person's disability."

https://www.ada.gov/regs2010/service_animal_qa.html

 

[Justin B.]

The ADA has laws that every business and their employees must be aware of. It's the people with fraudulent dogs that make it harder for everyone. If everyone, owners/handlers and business owners followed the law then it wouldn't be tricky at all. As far as the general population goes, most handlers spend a great deal of time educating. It's just that far too many people seem to feel that they, or their children, are an exception.

"In situations where it is not obvious that the dog is a service animal, staff may ask only two specific questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform? Staff are not allowed to request any documentation for the dog, require that the dog demonstrate its task, or inquire about the nature of the person's disability."

https://www.ada.gov/regs2010/service_animal_qa.html

Interesting. Good info to know. See im in the dog world and I knew there were rights. But I had no idea what a business was allowed to or not allowed to scrutinize.

But how do the fakes get busted?

Seems like an honest policy. Which makes practical sense. I think we should take people for their word on stuff like this even if we know there are fakers unfortunately.

 

[Boxergirl]

Interesting. Good info to know. See im in the dog world and I knew there were rights. But I had no idea what a business was allowed to or not allowed to scrutinize.

But how do the fakes get busted?

Seems like an honest policy. Which makes practical sense. I think we should take people for their word on stuff like this even if we know there are fakers unfortunately.

The best answer is that you usually can't. And you're right, we should take people at their word. In most cases, as long as the dog is well behaved and not causing is disruption then I have no problem with it. My real issue is with businesses not knowing the law and denying access to people and their animals because they don't know the law and demand paperwork, as well as asking inappropriate questions when someone doesn't "look disabled." My daughter had an issue in a store she has frequented since her dog was 8 weeks old where a new employee asked for paperwork, demanded personal information he wasn't allowed to ask, and ultimately wanted her to leave. His reason was because they had a dog the week before that urinated and tried to bite someone. Most likely not a service animal, but it was wearing a vest and had papers. Just an example of a fake SD can make things more difficult for real ones.

Here's another link about why it's so hard to spot a fake. There's a list on the right side of the page of each state's service dog laws.

https://www.servicedogsociety.com/how-to-tell-if-a-service-dog-is-real-vs-fake/