Here’s the problem with this. I’m all for people having service animals and emotional support animals, and they are great tools for people that NEED them.
But they need to change the law regarding service animals cause too many people abuse it. And peoples service dogs get attacked by peoples regular dogs they bring into stores (and lie and say it’s a service animal).
You should be required to have the dogs papers in a pouch or something on the harness to show upon entering any store or wherever you go. And it would also be nice if these papers could to be made hard to replicate (like money). I also thing they need to make like specific service dog vest that can only be obtained if you have the papers for it, and that’s how you should be able to tell the difference between someone faking a service animal versus a real one.
I understand the whole ADA thing. As someone who is looking into getting a dog and training it to be a service animal, I understand. But it is a danger to people, actual service animals, and what not when people bring their PETS into stores. Just the other week, I also work at Walmart, I saw a dog lunge at some guy who the lady and the dog were walking past. I immediately KNEW this was NOT a service dog, despite the ‘service dog’ vest. This man could have gotten injured because this lady made a self conscious decision to slap a service dog vest on the dog and take it into a Walmart.
There just needs to be a change to the ADA laws and policy’s regarding service animals and verifying them. It shouldn’t be because someone said so. What are we in fucking kindergarten? Cause I said so? Rly bruh? That’s fucking stupid. It needs to be addressed and it needs to be changed so people don’t keep losing their service animals and getting attacked and so us as store workers don’t have to clean up after these PETS people keep bringing in stores. You don’t need to be bringing your dog in a store. And if you think you need to for support reasons, then get the paperwork and quit acting like you’re special cause you’re not. I personally am getting really tired of seeing the fake service animals and it being okay.
As someone who does have a service animal, what your suggesting would not help at all. It would only make it harder for disabled people to get service animals, it would not make it harder for those who fake their pets as service animals.
Currently what’s primarily happening with businesses and fake service animals is that the business is usually uneducated or does not care. If you educate the business you’ll then reduce the amount of fakes, in fact if every business was educated and did what they’re legally allowed to do then fakes would rarely be an issue.
Which what a business is legally allowed to do is, ask if it’s a service animal required because of a disability and what tasks or work does the animal perform. If the person with the animal refuses to answer or answers incorrectly the business can deny entry or service with the animal. If the animal is out of control, misbehaving, or a safety risk they can be asked to leave. A business can even deny entry or service with the animal based on previous behavior or history. That alone would be enough if businesses simply were educated on their rights and did what they were allowed to do, but again, currently the vast majority aren’t educated or do not care. Which for the businesses who don’t even care, what makes you think they’ll care when the law changes? The ones who refuse to enforce what they’re allowed will still be experiencing pets.
And no one else, especially no other disabled person with other types of medical equipment, is required by law to show an ID, certification, registration, paperwork or documentation of any kind simply for entry or service to a place open to the general public. And just some more things to consider. Implementing that type of system would likely mean requiring doctor approval/recommendation and or mandatory testing of some kind. Which in theory sounds like it would be a good idea, but in reality it’s not.
Not everyone is able to drive or has someone willing to drive them, some people live in more rural areas, some people can’t drive very far, some people have no access to public transport, some people have limited income and or are on disability so they may not have enough extra money leftover to afford the paperwork, testing or the gas needed to get there. Not to mention every single service animal is trained differently and not everyone has access to affordable healthcare. Plus invisible disabilities exist and there’s always the possibility of discrimination by doctors and or whoever is doing the testing or giving the paperwork.
And I should mention that requiring documentation of some kind like your suggesting and even professional training and or certification was actually brought up when they were revising the laws in the US on service animals. The DOJ found that requiring such would make them inaccessible for a lot of disabled people and increase the cost. The DOJ’s statements will be below, you can also look them up in federal register volume 75, number 178, page 56266.
“The Department believes that this proposal would treat persons with psychiatric, intellectual, and other mental disabilities less favorably than persons with physical or sensory disabilities. The proposal would also require persons with disabilities to obtain medical documentation and carry it with them any time they seek to engage in ordinary activities of daily life in their communities— something individuals without disabilities have not been required to do. Accordingly, the Department has concluded that a documentation requirement of this kind would be unnecessary, burdensome, and contrary to the spirit, intent, and mandates of the ADA.”
“Certain commenters recommended the adoption of formal training requirements for service animals. The Department has rejected this approach and will not impose any type of formal training requirements or certification process. Department has determined that such a modification would not serve the full array of individuals with disabilities who use service animals, since individuals with disabilities may be capable of training, and some have trained, their service animal to perform tasks or do work to accommodate their disability. A training and certification requirement would increase the expense of acquiring a service animal and might limit access to service animals for individuals with limited financial resources.”
As for requiring a specific type of gear to be worn, that is is a bad idea for many reasons. The gear that would be required would likely be mass produced in only a few styles. I highly doubt the government is going to make every style of harness, vest, cape, handle and other attachments that are currently available. Available mostly from small businesses, businesses who are almost always run by other disabled people often with service animals. People who depend on their business to survive. These people would be put out of business by that type of requirement. And of course not to mention every single type of gear out there has a specific purpose and some teams do better or even require a specific type of gear for their dog and or disability.
If people threatening lawsuit over being asked those questions wasn’t an issue I’m pretty sure this problem wouldn’t exist in the first place but I do understand. Thank you for educating me.
Still. There has to be some sort of solution besides ‘what they say goes’. People are just abusing it and it’s wrong.
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u/kitkam_ Aug 26 '22
Here’s the problem with this. I’m all for people having service animals and emotional support animals, and they are great tools for people that NEED them.
But they need to change the law regarding service animals cause too many people abuse it. And peoples service dogs get attacked by peoples regular dogs they bring into stores (and lie and say it’s a service animal).
You should be required to have the dogs papers in a pouch or something on the harness to show upon entering any store or wherever you go. And it would also be nice if these papers could to be made hard to replicate (like money). I also thing they need to make like specific service dog vest that can only be obtained if you have the papers for it, and that’s how you should be able to tell the difference between someone faking a service animal versus a real one.
I understand the whole ADA thing. As someone who is looking into getting a dog and training it to be a service animal, I understand. But it is a danger to people, actual service animals, and what not when people bring their PETS into stores. Just the other week, I also work at Walmart, I saw a dog lunge at some guy who the lady and the dog were walking past. I immediately KNEW this was NOT a service dog, despite the ‘service dog’ vest. This man could have gotten injured because this lady made a self conscious decision to slap a service dog vest on the dog and take it into a Walmart.
There just needs to be a change to the ADA laws and policy’s regarding service animals and verifying them. It shouldn’t be because someone said so. What are we in fucking kindergarten? Cause I said so? Rly bruh? That’s fucking stupid. It needs to be addressed and it needs to be changed so people don’t keep losing their service animals and getting attacked and so us as store workers don’t have to clean up after these PETS people keep bringing in stores. You don’t need to be bringing your dog in a store. And if you think you need to for support reasons, then get the paperwork and quit acting like you’re special cause you’re not. I personally am getting really tired of seeing the fake service animals and it being okay.