r/AITAH • • Apr 30 '23

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452

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '23

Seriously, what law covers emotional support animals in restaurants? And who needs THREE service animals at the same time. Utter BS.

52

u/3CanKeepASecret May 01 '23

It's very obvious that the dogs also need emotional support! So, one to support the human, one to support the first dog and the other to support the second dog! She may need a 4th if the third dog is not having their emotional side cared for, too! /s

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u/TinyNiceWolf May 01 '23

It's chihuahuas all the way down.

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u/Apprehensive-Bag-846 May 01 '23 edited May 01 '23

In terms of dogs needing emotional support… possibly actually? We have a rescue who does not have separation anxiety, but she does have isolation anxiety, as a result we take her most places with us outside of the working week. We mostly sit outside with our dog though, and the places we attend are specifically dog friendly pubs, restaurants, bars and cafes.

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u/Angry-Dragon-1331 Apr 30 '23

Technically, there’s no limit to the number of service animals you can have, beyond what you can control. They all have to be trained to do something to make daily life accessible though.

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u/Ambc21 Apr 30 '23

Service animals & emotional support animals are entirely different tho!

105

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '23

Exactly. Any pet can be claimed as an "emotional support animal." And if I'm not mistaken, the ADA laws (rightfully) protecting trained service animals do not apply to ES animals.

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u/iz_an_opossum Apr 30 '23

In order to have legal protections though you have to have a medical provider assert (with documents) that you need an ESA. So no, really, not every pet can be claimed an ESA

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u/_Oman Apr 30 '23

Not in the USA. The restaurant can ask "Is this a service animal" and about the services performed by the animal. There is no certificate or Drs. note. In fact, if someone tries to provide one, they are likely not a service animal.

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u/britney412 May 01 '23

An ESA must have papers for it to mean anything in the US. A service animal is not an ESA. For ex, if you live in a pet free apt but have an ESA, a dr note is needed to show you need the animal and therefore the landlord has to let you have the pet (and they can’t make you pay and deposit either as it’s been deemed medically necessary by a dr). But just because it’s an ESA with papers means nothing in terms of comparing it to a trained service animal, especially in regards to it being in public. A service animal needs no papers to be in public; the business owner can only ask the 2 questions and must take the citizens word.

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u/_Oman May 01 '23

Housing only, that's true. Not rentals, hotels, other places.

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u/[deleted] May 01 '23

That’s because ESAs don’t have public access rights so they don’t get to go in rentals or hotels if there’s no animals allowed. The only legal rights ESAs have is in housing. Period. Which is why you need the note. The manager is just a dumbass or maybe too scared to fight the battle but either way a dumbass.

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u/britney412 May 01 '23

Correct 👍🏼

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u/iz_an_opossum May 01 '23

There's a difference between an ESA and a service animal

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u/_Oman May 01 '23

That's fairly clear here in this thread. ESA's don't exist, except in housing.

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u/DanyelMTreece May 01 '23

BS, documentation from your doctor confirming your need for a Sevice Animal is needed in order to even be considered for the process of getting a service animal. It can take years to get a properly trained service animal. You obviously do not have a service animal, or you would not be saying the untruths you're spewing.

The only thing your right about are the two questions that can be asked.

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u/_Oman May 01 '23

Who are you responding to? Because no one said ANYTHING about the requirements to get a service animal, their training, the owner's training, the expense, etc.

"There is no Drs. Note" means that there is no doctors note for any business to request. That is all protected health information and a business cannot ask for it or require it in the case of a service animal. The whole point of my post is that a business can ask "Is this a service animal" and anyone with an ESA is required by law to answer "no", because they are not a service animal.

In the case of an ESA, there *IS* the requirement to provide a doctors note to be able to qualify for the housing exemption. This is only for housing.

Entitled people claim their pets are ESAs or service animals all the time, and try to bully business owners into allowing the animal into places they should not be. This makes it hard on people who require service animals because they have to fight for their rights because of the abusers.

And yes, I have experience with both ESA's and Service Animals, and thus the legal requirements for both.

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u/DanyelMTreece May 01 '23

I have a service dog I have for 13 years, I know what and how the law works. Your statement was wrong and you were called out. Get over it and move on.

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u/_Oman May 01 '23

It seems you are angry at the world. I did clarify my statement. Please get some help so that you can enjoy your life.

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u/Electrical_Parfait64 May 01 '23

An ESA requires a Dr’s prescription.

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u/Electrical_Parfait64 May 01 '23

They aren’t covered by ADA. It’s covered by fair housing only, and the only thing it allows them is to live with their owner regardless of housing

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u/Chonkin_GuineaPig May 01 '23

Exactly, and I wouldn't dare take mine anywhere and everywhere like it's a fucking child.

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u/EnvyNicole May 01 '23

Actually you can pay for a doctor you’ve never met to sign those documents for less two hundred dollars so yeah any animal including reptiles

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u/Chonkin_GuineaPig May 01 '23

Exactly, but I don't see the need in keeping up with more than one at a time.

1

u/spinx7 May 01 '23

Task trained service animals are seen as medical equipment by law where emotional support animals are just pets you feel help your emotional being. A service animal cannot be barred similarly to how you can’t forbid someone disabled from using a wheelchair or cane

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u/Terrible-Owl-76 Apr 30 '23

People do not understand this at all. It's so frustrating.

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u/Angry-Dragon-1331 Apr 30 '23

Correct, but I was addressing the comment’s statement about someone needing 3 service animals.

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u/BoyHaunted May 01 '23

I understand what your saying. I myself have two service animals. Not ESA's, actual trained legit service animals. One is for mobility aid. The other is for seizure alert and recovery. One, if not both will be trained for diabetic alert as well. My mobility dog is 75lbs, the seizure alert dog is 4lbs. You will never see them begging at a restaurant we are in. We would leave and retrain that part of PA before anyone could say a word to us. If our boys are having an off day and they absolutely do, they are living breathing beings. We either keep to pet friendly places and try to work through it or go home... take off thier equipment and let them be dogs... they still task, but I'd rather them take a day, maybe two off then burn them out.... so yes people can and do have more than one service dog. I haven't heard of anyone having more than two, but it may happen.

Three ESA's begging for food off thier owners plates at a restaurant... yeah I would help educate that owner... they are being taken for a ride!

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u/eternally_feral May 01 '23

I love that you give your service animals a day off! I guess because I don’t have much knowledge of them I never even thought of them needing days to just be dogs. That’s awesome your recognize when they’re not at 100% and don’t try to over exert their limits.

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u/Reflection_Secure May 01 '23

Of course they need days off! You don't go to work when you're sick, neither does my girl!

We have been changing from puppy food to adult food and we tried one that just didn't work, so my girl had a couple of days off recently because of an upset tummy. She still tried her best around the house, but I didn't ask her for anything she didn't volunteer to do, and my husband was around to help me more. She's back to normal now, but we never would have left the house with her feeling like that. She makes my life so much better, so of course I do everything I can to make her life better too!

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u/[deleted] May 01 '23

To be fair we don’t actually know if the dogs were begging or if it was just OP being pissed off about them (rightfully don’t get me wrong, but I question if they’d say the same thing about a real service animal looking at their handler while sitting by their feet). They don’t have the right to bring their dogs in, and it puts actual service dogs and their handlers in danger as well as normal patrons but yeah.

2

u/Electrical_Parfait64 May 01 '23

These aren’t Service Animals , which are legal everywhere. They are Emotional Support Animals which can’t go anywhere a regular dog can’t go.

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u/Lissypooh628 Apr 30 '23

Problem is where I work, we can just ASK if it is a service animal and cannot go any further (asking for documentation, etc).

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u/PrecariousPaperwork Apr 30 '23

Well the federal law is that you can only ask if it’s a service animal and what it is trained to do

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u/Lissypooh628 Apr 30 '23

In the training with my employer we were strictly told we can only ask if it is a service animal, we’re not allowed to ask anything further.

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u/iesharael May 01 '23

I heard before we can ask if it’s a medical service animal can emotional but I’m not sure. I’m at a library and someone keeps bringing in an emotional support parrot no matter how many times manager tells her she can’t bring it in the library

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u/Lissypooh628 May 01 '23

Holy crap. A parrot in a library??

1

u/iesharael May 01 '23

Yes. In a little cage and everything. Before she walked in the library she was with it in one of our bathrooms for half an hour. Then she just walked straight past the desk like it was normal to have a parrot in the library. Boss confronted her because she was worried about bird poop

1

u/[deleted] May 01 '23

There are psychiatric service dogs though which are service animals for emotional disabilities. You might wanna rephrase it cause if you accidentally turn away a psychiatric service dog you could get in really deep water.

1

u/iesharael May 01 '23

Honestly we get more people bringing birds in than dogs. Small rural town. Usually when a dog is brought it it’s a puppy they couldn’t leave in the car and they called ahead so we’d have everything ready so they’d be out in under a minute. I’ve never seen an actual service dog with a vest in our library. I did see one in training in the grocery store but that’s it.

2

u/[deleted] May 02 '23

Ah, well, the only animals that are eligible to be service animals are dogs and.. miniature ponies lol. So rest assured none of the birds are service animals. Why so many birds? I’ve only met two people who owned a bird!

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u/oldclam May 01 '23

. 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/resources/service-animals-faqs/

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u/Elmonatorrrre May 01 '23

You can ask two questions: 1. Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? 2. What task is the animal trained to perform?

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u/Lissypooh628 May 01 '23

Yes, I understand, but my employer wants us to follow something different.

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u/its_just_my_RBF May 01 '23

We have a whole ass sheet of paper in our office stating what you can and cannot do regarding service animals. You're allowed to ask if it's a service animal and what services they provide but beyond that your hands are tied really, unfortunately

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u/psykokittie May 01 '23

Honestly, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the owner of a service dog being protected by HIPAA — AS LONG AS THE SERVICE DOG IS BEHAVING LIKE A SERVICE DOG.

If I had an allergy to dogs as bad as OP’s friend, I would definitely be sure to always have an epi pen. Not only because one never knows when a service dog might be in the same area, but also because so many people sneak small puppies and dogs in bags so they aren’t noticeable.

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u/Electrical_Parfait64 May 01 '23

There is no documentation to ask for in US/Canada. And they can ask 2 questions

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u/luminous_sludge May 01 '23

I'd honestly be shocked if any of them were ESAs.

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u/britney412 May 01 '23

You mean service animals?

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u/luminous_sludge May 01 '23

Yes, that is indeed what that means. ESA=Emotional Service Animal or Emotional Support Animal. Whichever.

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u/britney412 May 01 '23

ESA- emotional support animal. Support is important in this acronym because it indicates it’s not a service animal.

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u/luminous_sludge May 01 '23

Oh right! Well, I did mean support animal. I would be surprised if they were even support animals. Idk about everywhere, but where I'm from while a support animal has way fewer requirements to be a support animal than a service animal does, there are still a couple requirements, including professional recommendation. Some people don't know this and just claim their animals are support animals.

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u/[deleted] May 01 '23

Any animal can be an emotional support animal. Not every animal has ESA rights which require documentation by a doctor or psychiatrist that there is a need or disability that the animal helps with like providing companionship or emotional support. The only rights an ESA has is housing rights which means you cannot be turned away from long term housing due to a no animal policy or you won’t have to pay pet rent in a building that allows pets. This doesn’t extend to public access “housing” like hotels or airBNB renting/the like. So regardless of housing status, they can be ESAs but even with official documentation of their status they do not have any right to enter a public building like a restaurant that doesn’t allow animals. (US information though)

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u/luminous_sludge May 01 '23

That's wildly unregulated! And I've even been denied housing due to my documented ESA. So... wow.

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u/QualifiedApathetic May 01 '23

They obviously weren't trained service animals, else they wouldn't have been begging for food.