Service Animals, Emotional Support, and Guide Dogs562608

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

There have been news stories, articles, opinion pieces and other editorials where people rant and complain about people they think to be abusing the device. You hear some complain they had to sit near a dog at a restaurant which they don't believe is really a "real" service dog, varieties complain that their neighbors possess a pet inside a "no pet" building simply because they claimed your pet is esa doctors.

A number of the commentary has an indignant tone, plus some people are downright angry.

How can this affect those who legitimately own and employ a service animal to better their lives? In several ways.

For one, it could it more difficult to navigate bureaucracy on the planet when your claim of a disability along with your service or emotional support animal's status is questioned. If your landlord or business 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 other evidence might not be legal, although many people who just love legitimate service animals and emotional support animals have not taken advantage of registering them, and so have no such documentation to create.

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

Although registration is optional, it can help shortcut the housing rental and business access issues once the owner can produce a simple document that may often fulfill the owner or landlord. Also, when utilizing public spaces, it's easier to give a document with a simple sentence stating, "This can be a service animal" and letting the other party browse the information, rather than having a long-winded protracted conversation (or worse, argument) in public places, with onlookers listening in and gathering across the discussion.

So, carry out some people scam the system, or game the law? Sadly, the answer is "probably yes." In life, there is always room for abuse and people can try to take advantage of many systems that people as a society applied to protect the rights of those who need such protection. For instance, many drivers falsely display disabled parking placards to take advantage of free and convenient parking. As well as the number of folks who lie on their tax returns, claim improper tax deductions, abuse shop return policies, or do other bad acts.

However that percentage of abuse, which in the area of service animal laws is hopefully small, might just be a very small price to pay when compared to the higher objective of promoting access and equality for all.

In the end, you cannot control any system to make it 100% abuse proof. So tolerating the few individuals who scam service animal laws will be the price we gladly pay to ensure that the disabled within the great state of California have equal access under law.