Fake Service Dog, and dangled bait

[Halo_miles]

And you know he/they are lying. therefore, from now on, your group needs to carefully drag your work out until the actual quitting time. If they want you to stay later to clean up another department, they will have to pay you overtime for it. See how long that staying late lasts.
Seriously. DO NOT REWARD their bad behavior and the LOD's lies.

You are my hero. Now, if I can get my husband to do that at his workplace....maybe they wouldn't consider trying to keep him for fourteen hours a day, six days a week.

[sevendaysky]

In the US, the part of the law that deals with service dogs has changed. http://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm You can ask if the dog is a service dog, and you can ask what service the dog performs for you. Emotional support is not covered. PTSD, however is, but that's because the dog performs a specific action in response to an environmental situation (an indirect command). That website linked above gives a pretty indepth explanation.

I loathe people who have fake service dogs, because they make it harder for ME, with mine. My service dog is gone now and it'll be a long time before I can afford another one, but I've posted on this site before about the problems fake service dogs caused for us.

[MoonCat]

I think if I were in that situation, I would ask the managers when they were going to give that "let's get everything done!" speech to the depts that were NOT getting their work done and leaving it for you.

[raudf]

Mom has a toy poodle who naturally started reacting to her onsets of asthma, which in turn trigger an anxiety attack. He starts licking and whining when it happens. He's registered, but she doesn't carry him around with her much because of the questions. *sigh* And it's a useful thing for her too.

Dad does have an "in training" service dog. She's registered and has her vest and all. She has learned to let him lean on her to some degree when his legs start to give to prevent him from falling. Still working on the pointed fetch though.

[TexasT]

In the US, the part of the law that deals with service dogs has changed. http://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm

I'm not sure if it's set by state, but I know where I live, before you can claim a dog is a service dog in a public place, you have to get it registered and it'll get a license that you carry around. I know a woman who had a service dog who detected by smell if her blood sugar was off (Type 1 diabetes). We were at a place that kept saying, "No dogs allowed," so she got her license out just in case someone asked; no one did. As far as the vest is concerned, she said the dog didn't really like it, especially when it was 110 degrees/42 degrees plus outside.

[Deevil]

I'm not sure if it's set by state, but I know where I live, before you can claim a dog is a service dog in a public place, you have to get it registered and it'll get a license that you carry around.

But since federal law supersedes state law and there is no federal requirement for service animals to be certified/licensed, the state's regulation is technically violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

[Aethian]

I think if I were in that situation, I would ask the managers when they were going to give that "let's get everything done!" speech to the depts that were NOT getting their work done and leaving it for you.

When mom was working at a place like this one of the good managers learned which departments usually f'ed around till they got help. So instead of sending people over there as they got done he sent them to other departments. By the near end of the shit the ones who hardly did anything were busting butt because they were holding up the ten other people who wanted to go home. Only took a couple weeks of the fellow employee bashing before that department stopped lazing about.

[Desk clerk knows all]

We don't allow pets in our hotel, but of course we allow service animals. So people are always claiming their dogs are service animals when clearly they are not, but we aren't allowed to question them on it.

[PepperElf]

But since federal law supersedes state law and there is no federal requirement for service animals to be certified/licensed, the state's regulation is technically violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

that's why it's best to not expect employees to "fix" this and to notify the police instead.

that way the store or employee can avoid getting into any lawsuit or mass-media extravaganza if they end up targeting someone who turns out to have a valid service animal. cos the last thing any store needs is getting bad press for something like that.

[Sapphire Silk]

Unfortunately, there's no legal standard of service dog training. It's perfectly legal to train your own, for instance, to whatever standard serves you. And it is illegal to challenge the status of a service dog.

That's because it can be difficult and expensive to get a service animal trained. Many people need a dog trained to their unique needs, so it's easier and cheaper to train your own. Evil Empryss trained her dog Goldie to be a service dog, and Goldie did the job very well until she got hit by a car a few years ago. Goldie still knows what to do and will do it, be EE seldom takes her in public anymore because Goldie has a limp and some arthritis in her hip from her surgery.

And this is why I feel the ADA needs to police themselves and provide proof that service animals are certified; no certification, not a service animal and out it goes. Too many self-centered people are lying about their "pwecious snookums" being a service dog. What happens if it attacks someone in your store? I see the victim suing you as well as the owner, especially as the store has deeper pockets...

The ADA isn't an organization. It's a federal law. The point is to help people with disabilities not have to argue about whether their animal is a service animal or not; to take away barriers to using their service animals. That's why the law is written the way it is.

I've been through this with EE and her service dog, Goldie. Before Goldie's accident (got hit by a car and fractured her femur), EE trained Goldie as a mobility dog. EE has baaaad fibro. Sometimes she falls, and can't get up. Goldie helps her get up, and also calms EE down when she gets over excited or is overdoing it (which triggers her fibro). Goldie made it a lot easier for EE to get around and live a normal life.

You'd never know she was there when she was "on the job." She ignored everyone, and kept a low profile. She sat under the table and wouldn't beg the way she normally would at home (she's normally a friendly and gregarious dog).

A few years ago, EE, the kids and I went on a weekend camping trip. We stopped at a little place for ice cream. The owner got very upset that we brought Goldie in. He kept yelling, "No dogs!"

I kept yelling, "Service animal!" His employee kept trying to explain to him what that meant (English wasn't his first language), but he kept getting irate. He called the cops on us (we'd left by then) but we saw him later.

I'm not sure if it's set by state, but I know where I live, before you can claim a dog is a service dog in a public place, you have to get it registered and it'll get a license that you carry around. I know a woman who had a service dog who detected by smell if her blood sugar was off (Type 1 diabetes). We were at a place that kept saying, "No dogs allowed," so she got her license out just in case someone asked; no one did. As far as the vest is concerned, she said the dog didn't really like it, especially when it was 110 degrees/42 degrees plus outside.

If you live in the US, then your state is violating federal law. The ADA specifically says no registration is required. You can ask what service the animal provides, but not question if it is in fact a service animal. They don't have to wear the vest, though EE usually had Goldie wear hers to avoid questions.

It sucks that some people abuse this. But fixing it will require changes to the law and I doubt disability groups will allow that to happen.

Personally, I can't understand why people take their dogs out in public if they are not service dogs. They leave their dogs in hot cars with no water or food, or they let them run loose in public and cause problems. It's not fair to the dogs; most would just as soon stay home (I'm not talking about taking dogs to dog parks or other dog friendly places), and cats most certainly would rather stay home. I never take Taz anywhere; she hates being in the car.

[Opalin]

Just chiming in on the "Small dogs can be service dogs too" thing. My grandmother has had two service dogs, a toy poodle and a bishon, both of them to sense when she's going into a panic attack and calm her down.
I've also never understood why people would take their pets with them on grocery runs if they have to drive there. I can kinda understand if you're within walking distance and you'd just want to incorporate it into your run, but if you're driving... I'd think it would be safer for your pet to stay behind...

[TheHats]

And this is why I feel the ADA needs to police themselves and provide proof that service animals are certified; no certification, not a service animal and out it goes. Too many self-centered people are lying about their "pwecious snookums" being a service dog. What happens if it attacks someone in your store? I see the victim suing you as well as the owner, especially as the store has deeper pockets...

Since a service dog is legally part of the human using them, being attacked by a service animal is legally assault. So you run the same risk if being sued as you run by letting the general public inside, since any of them could attack anyone else at any time.

[PepperElf]

Since a service dog is legally part of the human using them, being attacked by a service animal is legally assault. So you run the same risk if being sued as you run by letting the general public inside, since any of them could attack anyone else at any time.

well to be honest, be it a service animal or a pet, if it attacked, then the victim could take legal action.

but "what if it attacks" should never be used as a reason to bar a service animal, or one that we think is fake either. Same for "what if someone's allergic" too. If that was allowed then it could also be used in ways that would violate the ADA.

again as before, it's best to let legal authorities handle that vs any other actions

[BrenDAnn]

So what this boils down to is people can fake it and there's not a damn thing we can do about it without violating federal law. It is what it is, I guess. There is one customer of ours that has a small dog, a poodle I think it is, that is a service dog. For the longest time, she'd forget its tags or whatever. Finally, she got the dog its service vest and everything. Even with the vest, people have a hard time believing it. The dog, I believe, is to detect seizures in the woman.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

So what this boils down to is people can fake it and there's not a damn thing we can do about it without violating federal law. .

Nope. That's the trade-off our society has decided to make to be more accommodating to the disabled.

There is at least one person with a service dog that I see around the swamp--a beautiful long-haired Golden Retriever or such--but the whole "animal as fashion accessory" trend never caught on around here. And that's a good thing.