Service Animals, Emotional Support, and Guide Dogs2270601

Sadly, some people are asking whether "service animal" laws are increasingly being abused by people who want to scam the device.

There have been news stories, articles, opinion pieces and other editorials where people rant and complain about people they feel to be abusing the system. You hear some complain that they had to sit near your pet dog at a restaurant they don't believe is a "real" service dog, forms of languages complain their neighbors use a pet in a "no pet" building simply because they claimed your pet is esa letter.

Some of the commentary comes with an indignant tone, plus some people are downright angry.

So how exactly does this affect people who legitimately own and employ a service animal to better their lives? In many ways.

For one, it may it more difficult to navigate bureaucracy on the planet when your claim of your disability along with your service or emotional support animal's status is questioned. In case a landlord or company owner has heard negative stories claiming that many people are abusing the machine, it can cause these to look suspiciously whatsoever claimants.

Some landlord and business owners have begun requesting proof of status, despite the fact that asking for written or any other evidence isn't necessarily legal, and although many owners of legitimate service animals and emotional support animals haven't taken advantage of registering them, and so have no such documentation to make.

It is the suspicious attitude and illegal demands of some landlords and business owners that make registrations services just like the Service Animal Registry of California so vital to legitimate owners.

Although registration is optional, it can benefit shortcut the housing rental and business access issues if the owner can produce a simple document which will often satisfy the owner or landlord. Also, when utilizing public spaces, it is often easier to hand over a document using a simple sentence stating, "This is a service animal" and letting one other party read the information, rather than having a long-winded protracted conversation (or worse, argument) in public, with onlookers listening in and gathering around the discussion.

So, perform some people scam the machine, or game regulations? Sadly, the answer then is "probably yes." In life, there is always room for abuse and individuals can make an effort to take advantage of many systems that people as a society put in place to protect the rights of those that need such protection. For instance, many drivers falsely display disabled parking placards to take advantage of free and convenient parking. Not to mention the number of folks who lie on their own tax returns, claim improper tax deductions, abuse retail store return policies, or do other bad acts.

But that percentage of abuse, which around service animal laws is hopefully small, is arguably a very small price to pay when compared to the higher objective of promoting access and equality for those.

In the end, you can't control any system to make it 100% abuse proof. So tolerating the few individuals who scam service animal laws is the price we gladly pay to ensure that the disabled in the great condition of California have equal access under law.