Interesting read http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/The-Teacup-Poodle-In-Your-Coach-Purse-Is-Not-A-Service-Dog-327425491.html. And as was mentioned in last year’s thread about this topic, FL now makes the false claim that a therapy dog is a service animal is illegal subject to jail and/or fine.
BTW, in the article above, they describe untrained pets/“therapy dogs” chewing on other people’s canes and being aggressive with a service animal. IMO, even therapy dogs should have an expectation of a certain level of training.
Well my mom doesn’t bring her dog anywhere it isn’t allowed and she always asks if it’s ok. I don’t see anything wrong with that. Businesses can just say no dogs allowed or put up a sign. And if a restaurant allows dogs and you don’t like that - choose somewhere else to eat.
This isn’t about your mom or her dog, EB. Back in the day, if a restaurant allowed smoking, I would eat somewhere else.
If a dog is well behaved and permitted by the facility, that’s one thing, But if a dog is not well behaved, even if permitted, they, just like many/most courteous people do (or should do) with ill behaved kids- take them outside or away from disturbing other people.
I must live in a bubble then because I have never run across misbehaving dogs in a store or restaurant. Can’t say I see too many kids misbehaving in stores or restaurants either, but if I do I just ignore it. I can’t control how anyone else behaves and IMO, life is too short to get my knickers in a knot over minutia like stuff like this.
We live in a very dog-friendly city (Boca) but I resist taking my dog to certain acceptable public places mainly because she looks like a little teddy bear and people will often let their small children run right up to her and get in her face. She is not a super-outgoing dog and doesn’t like being handled by anyone outside our family (or her regular groomer/sitter). I always feel bad turning away from little kids but I don’t want to put my dog (or a child) in a risky position.
Whenever I see people’s dogs in public I always ask if I can approach or pet the dog.
That’s another reason I think businesses have to be careful with dogs. Not everyone monitors their dog closely.
npr’s “whad’ ya know with michael feldman” this weekend rebroadcast an interview with a New Yorker writer who did a pet test in New York . . . with therapy letters for a snake, small pig, turkey, llama and etc. She went everywhere with these animals. It’s a funny interview; and her article that started the interview is interesting as well.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/20/pets-allowed
http://www.notmuch.com/
No need to get all defensive. Just saying if people are going to take their pets into public places, the pets should be well behaved and properly trained. And they shouldn’t try to buck the system if a facility is not pet friendly by trying to claim its a service dog or suggesting their pet therapy dog has the same rights as a service dog. They do not.
Interesting summary of the multiple categories for signal dogs, guide dogs, signal dogs, medical alert dogs,mobility assistance dogs, psychiatric service dogs, pet therapy dogs, emotional support animals, etc.
http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Its-National-Service-Dog-Month-326726021.html
I worked on dog legislation for my town so I delved into the world of ESA/therapy/service dogs for a while. One interesting point-according to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) a business owner or similar authority can ask if an animal is a service animal, and can ask what specific tasks the animal is trained to do, but they may not ask what the handler’s disability is, nor can they require an ID. Here’s a brief description of the rights associated with service animals.
http://www.ada.gov/svcanimb.htm
As part of the work I did I heard all sorts of wacky stories about the “need” for ESA’s to be in public places. In one case I got a letter from a woman who insisted her dog needed to be off leash in the cemetery. She was too old to walk her pet, whom she insisted she needed for emotional support and for whom she readily admitted she had obtained a vest on line without any documentation, so she would let the dog out in the cemetery and drive around with her dog chasing the car. What happened when the dog pooped on a grave? Umm… She was ready to fight to the death (perhaps literally) for the right of her dog to run free. As she was in her 90’s we chose not to deal with the problem directly, figuring her time driving would expire before anything was resolved in court.
Her time driving may not be the only thing that would expire…
(sorry, I literally just finished reading the obituary of a friend who just passed away at 90).
Its hard to know how many people with “pet therapy” or “emotional support” animals are truly ignorant of the rules and think their pets have the same rights and privileges as service animals, vs those who just want to take their pets with them, want to be able to have then in an apt/condo where pets are not allowed (just spent time with friend who have 2 dogs with this circumstance) and those who don’t want to pay $100 to bring their pet on a plane.
Dorms are now required to allow ESA’s, so now formerly pet-less dorms now have dogs, which aren’t req’d to have any sort of training like those for blind, etc, students.
Right now, it seems that only a few kids on campus have them, but as more and more kids see this, it’s going to become a nightmare. Dogs are super popular with college kids, and many move off campus as sophs so that they can bring their home pet to school. Now, they won’t have to.
With soooo many kids now being Dx’d with anxiety and depression, I don’t think it’s going to be hard for many to get whatever documentation is needed. In fact, at some point, I suspect that certain MH professionals will become “known” as the person to see to get documentation.
I don’t know how I feel about this. I understand the desire and the comfort a pet can bring, but I predict that there will be some fall out from all of this. What happens if a student is bitten by another student’s ESA? or a student has a severe allergic reaction? Will the school be held responsible? I can see some atty arguing that the school didn’t do due diligence to make sure that allowed dogs would be safe for other students.
People are gaming the system, and it is unfair for the folks that truly have service animals. I have a dog, but ore than Petsmart, I don’t take him in stores or restaurants with me.
@mom2collegekids you are so right! More kids will want to bring their pets to school. What about the kids who are allergic to pet dander? Misbehaving dogs? It’s getting ridiculous !
I think the animal owner should be responsible for any injuries from dog bites. And one bite and the animal is off campus.
No one should have to live in a room with an animal, if they don’t want to. So with dorm living, there needs to be accomodation not only for the service animals but for those who are allergic or are simply unwilling to live with dogs or whatever other animal.
I think I shared on the other thread how a retail lawyer in California for Ross Stores told me that a customer tried to bring a boa constrictor into their store as an emotional support animal. The other customers fled from the store. The snake was denied. Only dogs and miniature horses are required to be permitted as service animals (distinct from emotional support animals, which can be denied).
Why would anyone be afraid of a boa constrictor? As long as it’s around someone else’s neck? Ha.
We have stayed in many pet friendly hotels with our dog, but recently - on a school tour trip (!) - we were at a pet friendly hotel without our dog (whom we left home with a sitter because we knew we’d be very busy on that trip). My husband and I were waiting for an elevator when the doors opened and two very large dogs, with two females, lunged at my husband, and one actually jumped up on him chest-high (and my husband is pretty tall).
H and I both love dogs, but my husband got upset and said something to one of the ladies like “please control your dog.” She did not even apologize - got huffy instead. I would have been MORTIFIED if my 10 lb dog did something like that, much less a large breed, and would have apologized profusely.
I wondered what would have happened if one of those dogs had bitten my husband.
I’m not a fan of dogs in dorm rooms, mainly because of allergies, but also because it could place responsibility on roommates who really didn’t plan for that when they were considering living on campus.
ETA: we also never leave our doggie alone in hotel rooms. She would bark, which disturbs other people, and I would never be able to enjoy myself worrying about her.
I love dogs. I’ve owned 3 golden, for a while two at a time. That said, I understand why not everyone loves dogs or wants to be around them.
In my experience, more likely than dog bites are problems with friendly dog behavior. As I’ve said, I love pups, but the last thing I want to do is arrive at a meeting or a dinner with dog prints on my blouse or slobber marks on my skirt. I have had random dogs ruin my white pants. If it happens at the park where lots of people walk dogs I have to figure I was taking the life of my clothing into my own hands, but if it happens at the supermarket or a restaurant I’m going to be seriously ticked off.
I’m also sympathetic to people with dog phobias. When my son was little we owned a dog so gentle I have pictures of him with S at 4 months sleeping on his paw. The dog had lain down beside the baby and somehow gotten his paw under the baby’s head. These two were inseparable, but years later, after our dog’s death, my son developed an extreme phobia after seeing his sister bitten on the face by a relative’s cocker spaniel. He would cower in fear at my side if he saw a dog 50 feet away. We were able to cure the phobia with another gentle beast but our girl will literally bear the scars from the bite for the rest of her life.
Does your D have a dog phobia?
The level that my certified therapy dog is at is nothing compared to service dogs. It’s an entirely different ballgame. Service dogs have to be bulletproof; my therapy dog has to be decent and friendly. I went through certification with him in the anticipation of taking him to some retirement homes to visit with the seniors there, but so far my schedule has not allowed it.
The girls were both asking about having pets in their dorm room someday. Right now our sum total of animals in the house is 2 dogs, one cat, several fish, and a gerbil. I was like, oh hell no; your job at college is to take care of yourself, not an animal.
This sort of kiboshed any thoughts they had of looking at colleges specifically for pet-friendly dorms. The cat is 13 years old (DD17 feeds her, I do the litter box) and the gerbil will probably be taking a dirt nap by the time DD15 leaves. We are pet lovers, but the reality is we take care of the pets first, and they take care of us second. If my kid was so emotionally (insert non-judgmental word here) that they felt like they couldn’t go to school without a pet, for me that’s a bigger issue and I’d have them stay home rather than be at a pet friendly dorm.
It’s not fair to the pet to ask them to take care of us, in my opinion. The unconditional love we get from some of them is sort of a lovely by-product.