<p>I have heard that it is very easy to order vests and patches over the internet. Store clerks and others are afraid to ask approach the person with the dog over fear of a lawsuit.
I do think that animals can provide emotional support for depressed people. I have seen firsthand how having an animal to care for and the love that the animal gives back to the person help. I don’t see the need for those animals to go out on every daily errand with the owner. I think as with so many things those who use truely need this are hurt by those who are not honest and abusing the law for their own gain. One problem I have seen with renters is that the property manager and owner has no rights to set rules for the emotional support animal. So if the owner doesn’t properly take care of the animal they have few rights to force them to clean up after the dog or to keep it from disturbing the other tenants. I don’t think the property owner even has the right to charge a pet rent or additional deposit since the dog is not a “pet”.</p>
<p>Could a landlord simply call the deposit an “animal deposit”?</p>
<p>jym626 In the cases I have been aware of the buildings are no pets allowed. The tenant doesn’t mention the emotional support animal until they are already moved in.</p>
<p>Our school had an employee with a service dog, and there are a lot of rules that control what you (as an employer/business owner) can’t do: You can’t ask for certification, you can’t ask for proof of a disability, you can’t exclude the animal because someone might be allergic to dogs, and you can’t require that the dog wear some kind of vest. I’d say that maybe this was just the employment attorney being overly cautious, but the employee won on all of these points when the National Park service tried to keep his dog out.</p>
<p>jym, I found that link very helpful; thanks!</p>
<p>I remember reading about this several years ago, also in the New York Times. That article mentioned people insisting on bringing their emotional support dogs with them into restaurants and once, into a laser hair removal session where they had to cover the dog’s head with a towel to protect its eyes. New York must be particularly overrun with this. </p>
<p>The airlines people mentioned an emotional support goat getting onto a plane! Now, where do you put an animal like that? Or miniature horse? Does the person have to buy 3 seats across to fit everything or it that horse’s a$$ going to be perched on my armrest? How does it buckle in? Isn’t it against FAA rules for that plane to take off if some goat isn’t buckled in?</p>
<p>As a person who is allergic to cats, horses and most dogs, it just burns me up to think that the rights of the pet owner supersede he rights of everyone else. What if I showed up with a little tag and vest that said according to the ADA, you couldn’t have your pet near me, or your peanut fumes, or your horrible smelly Axe deodorant, that I was disabled by allergies and all else had to bow in my path? You would shoot me. Hell, I would shoot myself, since we can all still keep our guns at least. </p>
<p>It reminds me of an old Steve Martin joke. He mentions someone asking him, “you don’t mind if I smoke, do you?” and he answers, “no, you don’t mind if I fart?”</p>
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<p>There was a young woman at my college that had one. Always caused quite a stir. </p>
<p>(I didn’t know her, just saw her around campus.)</p>
<p>Another who doesn’t believe that emotional support animals must be accommodated the same way as service animals. I suspect businesses that do, do it because they’d rather error on the side of not legally discriminating (and don’t know the legal differences well enough).</p>
<p>ETA: Sorry, didn’t see jym’s post above.</p>
<p>The DV shelter I used to work at had a strict no-pets policy (we partnered with a local vet to temporarily shelter animals until a woman and her family can find stable housing). We had a woman who claimed that her dog was a service animal so we had to allow it. It wasn’t. The papers were fake. The poor dog was never properly taken outside, never groomed, never taken to the vet. For the two months+ we had her there, the entire shelter constantly reeked of dog urine and feces. I had to clean the room after she left- it was the worst room I ever had to do</p>
<p>Thanks, shrinkrap!</p>
<p>Mom60-
If the tenants failed to disclose something on their application, couldn’t that be grounds for eviction (if need be)? Not for having the dog, but for lying on their application.</p>