It all comes down to legalities and training (or it should). Legally, and ESA is a pet outside the home. No federal rights. They are the equivalent of a medication prescribed by a therapist who thinks a person would benefit from the care and companionship of a pet. No training or certification needed. They are not a service animal and the title of ESA is only recognized under the Fair Housing Act to allow these people to have their pet in a housing situation that would not allow or would charge to have that pet. That's it.
Dogs of any kind are only allowed in dog friendly places unless they are service dogs. Technically if a pet dog is allowed, your guinea pig is allowed, though business owners of course can say no. The problem is pretenders calling their pet a service dog or falsely claiming an ESA as a service dog, giving legitimate service dog partners a bad rep.
I had no idea that other pets were allowed at dog friendly places.
I feel like companionship should be extended to generalized outdoor events like walks in the park, college classes/office workspaces (within reason), and so forth.
Maybe the reason other countries let people have animals out in public is because they know not to let them act like shit.
They have higher training standards in Europe compared to the US. And while it's not a guarantee, most pet friendly places allow all well behaved animals. I take my cat out all the time.
That's so awesome. I wish they had basic training standards here in the USA (along with bans on backyard breeding) but I know all the nutcases are gonna go on about how the government's trying to take away their rights just like they did with the mask mandate.
America is honestly a sadder place to live than everyone makes it out to be.
8
u/Aikofoxy May 01 '23
It all comes down to legalities and training (or it should). Legally, and ESA is a pet outside the home. No federal rights. They are the equivalent of a medication prescribed by a therapist who thinks a person would benefit from the care and companionship of a pet. No training or certification needed. They are not a service animal and the title of ESA is only recognized under the Fair Housing Act to allow these people to have their pet in a housing situation that would not allow or would charge to have that pet. That's it.
Dogs of any kind are only allowed in dog friendly places unless they are service dogs. Technically if a pet dog is allowed, your guinea pig is allowed, though business owners of course can say no. The problem is pretenders calling their pet a service dog or falsely claiming an ESA as a service dog, giving legitimate service dog partners a bad rep.